Nitori awa li OLUWA Ọlọrun rẹ

Eniti o di ọwọ rẹ mu

O si wi fun ọ pe, Má bẹru

A yoo ran ọ lọwọ

They each drop their roses near me and form circles around me. They continue their song:

Nitori awa li OLUWA Ọlọrun rẹ

Eniti o di ọwọ rẹ mu

O si wi fun ọ pe, Má bẹru

A yoo ran ọ lọwọ

Their voices grow in power. They sing as if this is the last song that will ever leave their lips, as if their words can reanimate the dead. I start to comprehend what they are singing even though it’s in Yoruba. I have never heard that language before, but here in this eternal place there are no limitations or barriers. All my questions are subliminally answered. They are chanting an amended Bible verse: “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.” Only instead of I, they sing We. Finally, I have met “God,” the ones who called me forth. My omnipotent creator. He’s not a man at all, but a collective consciousness.

The procession continues until they form five rings around me with intermittent gaps, like an elaborate crop circle. White roses cover my body. An ocean of energy toils forcefully nearby. Not a body of water, but a vast amount of multicolored energy crashing into itself, turning and rolling, a primordial cosmic soup.

“Allow us to meet again outside of the space-time continuum. We are the Keepers in astral form. We have known you since the beginning. Now we must know: Do you want to return as Echo Brown?” They do not speak clear words, but send direct transmissions through electrical pulses.

I ponder the question. I feel so joyous and serene. Why would I go back to the pain and suffering of the living world? This place feels so much more real than Earth. The truth of all there is permeates my being. I bask in the solace of being home at last.

“I don’t want to return,” I say finally, also through transmission.

“Are you sure?” they ask. “The call is not completed. You will have to start again.”

The call comes rushing back again. And what if I can rise? And what if I can help? An intense magnetism draws me toward the world of the living.