RESURRECTION HALL – A Mansion World Odyssey
~ Chapter 9 ~
Meeting Solonia, First Transport
Just as Kala and Saro were leaving Banquet Hall, still discussing their first visit to the world outside the resurrection complex, all four of their Guardian Angels appeared.
The angels seemed even more beautiful than either of them recalled from their last face-to-face. They were both thinking perhaps their morontia vision is improving, possibly becoming better attuned to the sights and beings of this world.
“We have your assignments,” said one of Kala’s Guardians. “In ten days you will advance to Mansion 2.”
Kala and Saro were surprised and didn’t know quite how to react at first. They had erroneously assumed M1 would be their home for a while. As the implications began to dawn on them, questions arose.
“Will we stay on M2 for only ten days?” Saro wanted to know, “how far will we be advanced?”
“That we should know after you have arrived on M2, if not sooner,” answered the Guardian. This meant they had just ten days to explore M1, a world the size of Urantia. Their angels led the pair to a sitting area under a giant tree by the side of the pathway, in order to discuss their plans for the coming ten days.
“We have been exploring this world during your reception and orientation,” one of Saro’s angels told them. “We recommend you take excursions to various sites with the aid of a personal Morontia Companion.” Saro immediately thought of the Urantia Paper’s revelations about excursion supervisors, Morontia Companions who serve as mansion world guides and associates in leisure.
“We four have discussed the matter, and we advise that you retire for the night and rest. We have arranged for a personal Companion to meet you at your abode at daybreak tomorrow. Of course you are not obliged to accept our arrangement, and you may change it at any time. You may leave now, and go wherever you please for the next ten days without restriction. And you will always have the option to take group excursions that leave from the Melchizedek sector each day.”
Kala and Saro looked at each other, thinking for a moment.
Saro asked, “If we go with a personal excursion guide, where will she take us?”
His angel answered, “If you approve, you will be taken to the hall of records to consult the registry about your predecessors, those still on M1 who you may wish to call upon and make plans to visit during your brief stay here. Then you may wish to transport to three of the principal temples of M1. You may want to tour the seven major circles of the Morontia Companions, and view their magnificent temple. After that, you might choose to see the governor’s abode. And you have already expressed a desire to visit the gardens of the Banquet Hall. But you may, if you wish, alter this itinerary at any time, at any point in your ten day liberty.”
“How many days will that itinerary take?” asked Kala.
“Much depends on you, Saro and Kala. If you choose to be escorted by a personal guide, you can move at your own pace. If you choose to explore by group excursion only, you will of course forfeit autonomy. But you will have peers to share the experience. We recommend you employ both the personal guide and the group excursion options in your explorations.”
Saro and Kala wanted to think over their choices, especially now, after having learned they are to be on M1 only ten more days.
The Guardian added, “Remember that all plans are tentative, you may alter or amend them at any time.”
Their angels followed as the pair walked slowly toward the Melchizedek sector discussing the matter.
“Having a personal companion and guide seems like a luxury,” Kala said.
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“There’s no shortage of luxury here,” Saro replied. And I like the idea of having someone with us who knows the territory and probably more than a few languages.”
Kala agreed. Turning to the angels she said, “We prefer a personal escort, with the option to take excursions.”
Saro’s Guardian said, “Your personal Companion will call on you shortly after daybreak.” She and the other three angels wished the pair good night, then embraced and assured them, once again, that their angels are ever at hand.
The pair went to their lodge contemplating who they might find in the personnel registry on their first day of liberty on this astonishing world with so many beings and things completely and utterly new to them.
Their personal Companion arrived on schedule at daybreak. Kala and Saro were silently worshiping in back of their abode, on an elaborate swinging platform that hung from a large flowering tree. Once they set the swing in motion and took a seat, momentum kept it swinging for a long while. As they slowly swung, drifting in and out of prayer and worship, petals fell from the tree’s bountiful flowers. They were feeling a consuming oneness with Our Father, Michael, and Mother.
The Companion caught a glimpse of the pair in the swing and walked around the cottage to greet them. In soft voice she asked, “Ready to tour Mansion World number one?”
They opened their eyes a bit and smiled, both uttering the word, “Yes!”
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The Companion stepped forward and very graciously introduced herself, “I am Solonia.”
Kala and Saro dismounted the platform and greeted her with an embrace. She was as lovely and warm-hearted as any Companion they had so far encountered.
“That name sounds familiar,” said Saro.
“Solonia was the name of the ‘voice in the garden’ of Eden on Urantia,” replied Kala.
“I adopted that name – one that most ascending pilgrims can easily pronounce – after hearing of the loyalty and leadership she displayed while serving with Adam and Eve on Urantia.”
Solonia went on to tell the pair about her title and mode of service, “My current assignment is with the Excursion and Reversion Supervisors. I have been assigned as your guide, to escort you wherever you wish to visit on Mansion One. And your Guardians informed me of their recommendations, to see the registry, to tour three of the main temples and the governor’s headquarters, to visit the seven circles of the Companions, and your desire to tour the gardens of Banquet Hall.”
“When may we leave?” Kala inquired with an enthusiastic smile.
“Now” said Solonia. “The registry edifice is not far from the nearest gate. And that gate is only a short walk from here. Shall we?”
“Please, lead on Solonia,” said Saro. The pair was primed for this experience, ready to see just what’s out there on this beautiful sphere, one of millions of “cities of God,” hanging in space.
On the way to the gate, Solonia prepared them for their first impression of greater M1 saying, “You are about to view a world that leaves many pilgrims awe-struck. Since you were somewhat prepared by the revealed text you found on Urantia, you may be merely breathless,” she said with a reassuring smile. They laughed, which broke any tension Kala and Saro were feeling on this unique occasion.
They were realizing that the resurrection complex is much larger and grander than they first thought, and completely surrounded by a high wall with a broad promenade on top.
There are entry and exit gates at regular intervals all around the base of the complex’s circular wall. The gate they were approaching is gigantic and somehow, by its design, conveyed a sense of welcome. Certainly not foreboding.
Well before the pair came to the gate, they could glimpse activity on the outside, on the surface, and in the sky. Beings were moving about, some walking, but most riding in, or on, a variety of swift moving vehicles, wheel-less pods made of an astonishing array of materials, sizes, and shapes. All vehicles appeared to be riding on invisible currents.
Kala and Saro looked at each other with a new sense of glee and joy. It was hard for them to imagine exactly what this world would be like, but no longer did they have to use imagination. It was unfolding before them.
Their eyes became larger with every step. Already they could see a vast cityscape, with walls that form concentric circles, triangles, rectangles, and squares. When they passed through the great gate, Solonia directed them to a high lookout point that provided an unrestricted view. Just as they reached the top, Kala pointed overhead and exclaimed, “Saro, a passenger bird!” Saro looked up to see two great wings flare as a huge morontia transport animal landed with a passenger on the promenade directly above their exit gate.
What high adventure, what wondrous sights, what a world! Saro and Kala stood atop their perch, viewing the myriad complexes of work and living, with beings moving in every direction, on the ground and in the sky. The complexity and beauty of the view was all but overwhelming. The scenario prompted them to try to imagine what might be transpiring inside all those geometric formations, and at the same time wondering what it would be like to see them from a bird’s back.
After seeing the big bird land, Kala and Saro glanced at each other and instantly knew one of them had to ask. Kala did so, “Solonia, are new pilgrims permitted to ride them?”
“You are,” she replied.
“Today?” asked Saro.
“Now if you wish. Shall I make a reservation?” Solonia pointed to a peak on the far-away horizon saying, “That is where the birds roost.”
These lovers of flying, who were both licensed pilots on Urantia, who even died while flying, were thrilled by this chance to soar on a bird’s back over M1. When on Urantia they also enjoyed flying gliders for recreation and inspiration, riding on rising air currents with the soaring birds.
Immediately after Solonia made the reservation, their transport vehicle arrived. It moved very fast, dropping from the sky, coming to a smooth halt directly in front of them, then hovering silently hand-high off the surface.
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One side of it opened wide and Solonia said quaintly, “Pilgrims first.”
They smiled and stepped in. The vehicle held quite firm, not shifting at all with their added weight. All three took forward-facing seats on lavishly decorated bench chairs, each with cushioned and embellished armrests. They watched the door close quietly and seamlessly.
The pilotless transporter lifted off, slowly at first, then accelerated quite rapidly. Kala’s and Saro’s morontia bodies and minds were sensing and cherishing the liberty of flight on this new world. New to them at least.
Solonia was very much enjoying watching their reactions to this first flight in a common transport pod. There were many other pods flying above and below, all perfectly coordinated apparently. The floor of the vehicle was completely transparent. Looking down in every direction there appeared dynamism, intense activity. Everything had a pristine cleanliness about it, the air, the structures, even the creatures of this world gleam with morontia beauty, purity, and appeal.
The pair was fascinated by the strange and fascinating world below, viewing it through the clear shell of their swift ride, now moving extremely fast, “Up to 500 Urantia miles per hour,” Solonia told them.
They could see many interconnecting waterways and reservoirs shimmering in the early morning light. Saro and Kala were each silently expressing profound gratitude to God for this wondrous world, and for being part of it. The transport reached their destination so quickly the pair didn’t have time to ask Solonia questions about all the beings and doings passing beneath them.
The pod slowed as it approached the massive aviary, sitting on top of a high, broad, pedestal formation. Just before setting down they watched birds landing and taking off. They could see that the morontia animals had stalls behind each launch point which were situated all around the pedestal’s periphery.
The great birds could launch or land themselves from any point on the pedestal’s edge, and retire to their appointed stall as needed for sustenance, grooming, and rest between flights.
Kala and Saro followed Solonia to their assigned transports, walking through a charming garden of low, purple-leaved trees, many laden with morontia fruits of diverse colors and sizes.
“The birds are very fond the fruit,” Solonia told them.
Their eyes bulged and their jaws dropped on seeing the gigantic birds face to face. As they approached these two great flying creatures they couldn’t help but notice how intelligent and aware they appear. The birds are also beautiful, with flawless feathering, some iridescent, but mostly golden. The two giants looked alike to Saro’s and Kala’s untrained eyes.
As the three drew near and stood under the two birds’ attentive eyes, each bird watching them out of their right eye, Kala looked up and asked the nearest one, “Do you have a name, beautiful?”
Solonia translated a jewel-ringed plaque on the roost’s wall, “They are called, in Urantian English, ‘Faithful-One and Faithful-Two.’”
“That’s reassuring,” said Saro laughing.
Solonia translated the rest, “One is male, two is female. The female can be distinguished by a faint red band around her upper neck.” Looking closely they spotted it.
In a display of friendliness and affection, the great birds slowly lowered their heads, placing their large beaks directly in front of Kala and Saro. The pair looked the animals straight in the eye and then, impulsively, indulged an urge to embrace the beasts’ beaks. As they did, the birds made a chortling sound, one of approval they presumed. Saro and Kala instantly loved these giant flying animals.
After passing Solonia’s brief tutorial to ensure the two possess the skill and confidence to ride the birds, she said, “Faithful One and Two, and their progenitors, have flown this area for many generations, safely taking millions of pilgrims for their first post-resurrection flight. They know the area and will fly you to any destination their caretakers ask. The birds are quite smart and understand their keepers’ language. It is advised that you not attempt to direct the bird’s path, at least not until you have been qualified by the creatures’ caretakers. Shall I have them instruct your birds to circle this area three times and leave you at the hall of records? We can reconnect there.”
They agreed. Solonia spoke to the keeper and the keeper spoke to the birds in odd, brief spurts. The birds appeared to perceive his meaning. It was touchingly beautiful to watch them communicate. The keepers informed Solonia that the birds would be ready to launch as soon as they are outfitted.
Saro and Kala were very curious about what they only glimpsed on the way to the great pedestal, so they walked out to its edge for a standing-still view.
They wanted to know more about the many activities happening inside and outside these curious triangles, circles, rectangles, and squares. The range and acuity of morontia vision continued to amaze them; they could view far away objects with astonishing clarity in detail and color. They then and there pledged some part of their ten days’ liberty to tour the surface; to visit the ordinary places of M1.
When the trio returned to the birds, the keeper informed Solonia they were almost ready to mount and launch. One of the lovely spornagia came out of the stable’s quarters carrying safety equipment, and offered help putting it on and adjusting it properly.
Solonia advised Saro and Kala, “The safety devices will deploy automatically should the bird, for any reason, fall from the sky. Accidents are extremely rare, but have occurred,” she added.
Saro and Kala didn’t seem at all fazed by any possible risk. But Kala had been wanting to ask, “Are these bodies killable?”
***
Richard E Warren
