THE
GREAT MYSTERY
TRAVIS SLONE
One World Publishing
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
THE GREAT MYSTERY. Copyright (C) 2011 by Travis Slone. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information please address One World Publishing.
Cover Design Copyright (C) 2011 by Summer Slone.
All rights reserved.
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ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0221-5
Author’s Introduction
As a young soldier, father, and husband I was presented with a great challenge in the spring of 2004. My life since having open-heart surgery has been very different from what I expected. While the physical recovery was relatively quick, the spiritual and psychological obstacles have been more difficult to overcome.
With my future less certain than ever before, I felt a pressing need to understand the great mysteries of life. I often found myself unable to relax, and wrote the following lines in my journal one sleepless night:
“My mind chaotic every day,
So hard to put it all away
I numb it with my work and play,
But cannot mute it as I lay.”
In response to those restless times, I set out on a very personal journey, in hope of regaining my long lost sense of understanding. I hiked through the wilderness, climbed many mountains, and studied some of the world’s most inspiring books. I searched every day for the most elusive of all treasures: peace of mind.
As hard as I looked, I could not locate the answer in any one place. I nearly gave up, but decided to make one final attempt. I laid each of the puzzle pieces on the table, and observed them from a distance. It was only then, as I stepped back from what I thought I “knew”, that the fog began to lift.
Within this fascinating tale of adventure and discovery, my aim is to tell two stories. On the surface, I offer the symbolic account of my mind’s struggle to overcome adversity. Yet if you look deeper, perhaps you will find The Great Mystery to be more about life itself than anything else.
Should this ever-changing world leave me without a proper chance to say goodbye to the ones I love, my last message can be found within the following pages.
Even the greatest oak was once a tiny seed, rejected by every creature on Earth. Yet look at it now! Standing stronger than the others, it provides shade for those consumed by the heat of life.
Prologue
Outside the doors of a state-of-the-art medical center, a team of paramedics rushed in from their ambulance with a young soldier in critical condition. The twenty-two year old patient could hardly breathe while lying on his back, tightly strapped to a gurney that was headed straight for the operating room.
The young man’s frightened wife was close behind, holding their one year-old daughter to her chest as she followed. She imagined what life would be like without her best friend, and prayed that their child would grow old with the father who loved them so much.
As the paramedics carefully transferred the patient to the surgical team, the young man grabbed hold of his wife’s hand and stared into her sweet blue eyes. A tear ran down her cheek as he spoke what might be his final words.
“I’ll see you in a few hours sweetheart,” said the young man. “But if not, don’t worry. I’ve been in heaven since we first met.”
She smiled, but was unable to speak as the surgeon reminded them of the situation’s urgency.
“I’m sorry ma’am,” said the surgeon, “But we really need to get him into the OR.”
She nodded her head in understanding and covered her mouth to conceal the emotion.
She squeezed her dying husband's hand twice before the surgical team could take him away. He knew exactly what she meant, and smiled in return.
The young family parted ways, unsure of how things would play out.
As the anesthesia gripped hold of the young man’s waning consciousness, the light overhead began to fade. The medications quickly took over, and his heart rate slowed in preparation for the coming operation. Soon, his heart came to a complete stop, and his entire future hung in the balance, clearly dependent upon the compassion, skill, and teamwork of others.
Just then, as he slipped into another dimension, something astonishing happened. An unforeseen tipping point had been reached within the cosmos, and the ever-expanding universe suddenly changed course. During the dramatic process, everything in existence was returned to its most basic form, and brought back to the clean slate from which it all began. Not even the light could escape the unprecedented gravitational pull.
When the miraculous event was finally over, the universe had been compressed into a tiny, unrecognizable spec. Such events had taken place many times throughout eternity, and the mysterious cycle of cosmic re-birth would surely never end.
Then, after a brief peace during which nothing could evolve, the most amazing and inconceivable explosion occurred…and like a beating heart, The Great Mystery went to work…yet again.
Chapter 1
…some time later…
On a warm and almost silent summer afternoon in the land between the two great rivers, a bare-footed young girl wandered curiously from the primitive village in which she lived. She skipped happily along a lightly worn grassy path, which slithered its way into the nearby jungle. The dense green canopy into which she traveled remained mostly unexplored, offering an unrivaled adventure to anyone with the courage, or innocence to enter. The girl’s name was Eva, and there was not a worry on her pure young mind.
For the brown hair, blue-eyed seven year-old, the world was not only pleasing to her senses, but also simple to understand. The fruits of her life’s experience had left her with a comforting sense of peace and fulfillment. She had everything she needed by day, and slept well at night. There were no specific thoughts or actions led to this feeling, it just was. For Eva, conflict and suffering did not yet exist,
