Restless and shaking in its grasp, my voice trembled as I screamed,

“What do you want from me? Let me go! Let me go!”

No answer from the void.

I writhed and squirmed trying to pull myself away but its tendrils had me bound to uncertainty, fear and doubt.

My cries went unheard by the gods, the trees, the mountains, and the rivers.

No one could be seen for miles.

Tears streamed down my cheeks and the silence became deafening.

That hand held me so tightly that moments seemed like lifetimes.

Until finally, a gentle voice called out to me.

“Why are you hiding my child?

It’s me, God. I’ve been holding your hand all this time.

So have the trees, the mountains and the rivers.

Even the sun, the moon and the stars.

You kept thinking you were alone in the darkness.

But we were all right here with you every step of the way.

Your screams and cries were heard and your tears wiped gently from your cheeks.

We called out to you a number of times, but you didn’t hear us.

We stood in front of you but you didn’t see us.

We held you but you didn’t feel us.”

I slowly shifted my gaze upwards and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

I hadn’t moved from that very spot where I saw nothing but darkness.

Yet all I saw and felt now was love, surrounding me in many forms.

And then I knew, from that moment on, that there was a place for both amidst the gods.

And where there was one, the other would exist simultaneously.

God showed me it was my choice to exist with each of them peacefully.

I turned to God and asked Him to show me more. I wanted to know all there was to know about the universe. My fear turned into excitement, my dread into curiosity.

He reached for my hand again and gently whispered into my ear.

“Knowing everything will not keep the peace that I am offering you. Accepting the unknown that appeared before you heard my voice will.”

The abyss surrounded me once again, the unknown touched my flesh. But the hand of God was still holding onto mine. And all was right in my world.