"What do you think, baby," Esperanza asked with a grin, "Should I take off my shoes, this being holy ground?"
Sophia laughed. "Nah, why should my place be holy ground? I'm not that special."
"Maybe not, but with the Lord telling you my secrets," Esperanza continued with a wink, "I figure He must have been here. Was He standing over there?" She pointed to the space next to an easy chair.
Sophia paused, seriously considering where Esperanza was pointing. "Actually, Mom...that's a really good guess. I didn't see anything there, but I do remember hearing Him and I was usually there when I heard Him. In fact, it felt like it was coming from right where you're pointing. Are you seeing something right now?"
"Not much, but I do see a faint...outline there. Like a cloud of glory, if that makes any sense. It reminds me of when I met Him."
Sophia gasped. "You met Him?"
Esperanza looked her in the eye, now serious. "You might not have known this at the time, but when you posted that long instrumental song, I was at death's door. I went to hell first, then heaven, where I met Jesus in person. When He sent me back to Earth, the song was just ending."
"Oh man... I knew the stakes were high, but I didn't know they were that high! I'm so sorry!"
Esperanza smiled. "Don't be. I'm glad it happened. If anything less had occurred, I might not be here. That's one of the things He told me."
A lump forming in her throat, Sophia leaned in for a hug, which Esperanza cheerfully returned.
"And that's how He sent me back: with a hug. My heart was going to rupture, but I knew I was healed when He gave me that hug and sent me back."
"You did? How?"
Esperanza smiled. "Faith. He said it, I believed it, and the sign followed. I feel better now than I've felt in a long time."
Sophia paused, impressed and a little bit spooked by the similarity she had just heard. "This might sound a little weird, coming from me, but you sounded kind of like Lazarus just now."
Esperanza laughed. "Yeah, that does sound weird, coming out of your mouth, but you're not wrong. And judging by what Jesus told me, you might know Lazarus better than I do now. Faith was his number one guiding principle. He was so doctrinaire about it that it sometimes annoyed Grandma. I used to laugh about it too, thinking I knew better, but here we are."
"If you don't mind my asking, what did Jesus tell you?"
Esperanza brought a hand to her chin. "Where to start... Well, one thing He told me was that He gave you and Lazarus similar gifts that work in opposite directions. Both gifts worked across time, but his reached into the future and yours reach into the past. Apparently he prayed into the future and that allowed him to reach you this year, through his personal journal. As a result, you became active in your own gifts and started using them to reach me."
Sophia nodded. "Fascinating! That was Him, all right. You're right on the money. Did He tell you what your own gifts were?"
"Not necessarily straight up, but if I heard Him right, my gift might be healing. He said that if I stewarded what He gave me faithfully, I would perform signs and one of them would be resurrection."
A low whistle escaped Sophia's lips. "That's huge."
"I know. I don't feel worthy of it, to be honest, but if He wants to move through me that way, who am I to say no?" She chuckled. "In a way, it's actually rather fitting. I spent so much of my life collecting and inflicting pain that if you took my greatest evil and reversed it, the logical result would be a ministry of healing."
Sophia's eyebrows shot up. "Oh wow. Mom, something just clicked."
"Yes?"
"This is just a thought, but Paul said, 'for when I am weak, then am I strong.' Lazarus was obsessed with the future; it was his weak spot. He gave it to God because he knew he couldn't handle it on his own, so God gifted him there, where he was weak. I was insecure about my origins, about the past, so God gifted me there!"
Esperanza beamed. "That's a fascinating thought, Soph! You might be onto something there. You always did have strong analytical powers, and though I didn't want to admit it, that was something he and you had in common. And before I forget, Jesus told me one other thing about you and Lazarus."
"Yeah? What was that?"
"He said that in the same sense that you're white, Grandpa was black. He also said that Grandpa was in small part Semitic and therefore so are we. And if I remember the vision Jesus referenced correctly, we're Levites through that line."
"Really? Oh, that is wild!"
"I know, right?"
"So, are there any questions you have for me?"
Esperanza laughed. "Of course. That's one of the reasons why I'm here."
"Ask away."
"What was that...code that you were posting in?"
"That is something I can kind of explain, but also kind of not. I recognize it, but I don't know the rules for it. It was something Lazarus used in his journal: a language he devised but never taught. He must have recorded his most private thoughts in it. When I tried to read it in his little book, I saw and felt things--probably his memories. The lines that you saw me post were not in the book, but they looked similar and I wrote them at the Spirit's prompting."
"Whoa... So you don't know the literal meaning of the words?"
"Not quite, no. I saw things in my head before I posted and those words seemed to express or summarize what I saw, but that was all I knew about them."
"Do you think I'll see things like you did, if I read the book too?"
"Probably. I'll warn you, though; it's heavy stuff. It'll put you inside his head, both for better and for worse. I'm glad I read it, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't challenge me. Although...if you're looking for a way to train your healing gift, it might be a good exercise."
"Thank you; I'll keep that in mind. I might need a little time to let my thoughts settle before I read it, but I probably will read it eventually."
"Perfect. Any other questions?"
"As Grandpa might have said, '1.5'."
Sophia laughed. "One point five?"
"Yep. He liked to use percentages and decimals like that sometimes, in order to be as accurate as possible. He probably also did it for humor, like his own great-grandpa Alva Morgan, who apparently used to call himself 'Forenoon', after his initials A.M. Anyway, I said all that to say that I have a question and a half. One full question and one subordinate question that comes out of the first."
"Sure! Go ahead."
"Main question: how did you learn about all that music? I might already know, as God was definitely telling you things, but Lazarus was the only person I knew who played that much of it."
Sophia cocked her head. "Actually, you pretty much got it. God did tell me what to post, but I also listened to a playlist that Lazarus had put together shortly before that and started exploring those forgotten corners of YouTube. It's almost like visiting a different world."
Esperanza nodded fondly. "That it is. I used to explore that area more when I was young, but I stopped when I was 17. I may have to revisit it soon, though; you got me curious again. As you learned, I used to enjoy Bryan Duncan, and I probably will again when I give him another listen. It was never the music itself that bothered me, only the associations with Grandpa and his refusal to bend with the wind. But there were a few artists he introduced me to that I never lost my taste for, and Vernessa Mitchell was one of them. Andraé Crouch was another. And that brings me to my half-question."
"Yes?"
"Do you remember Grandpa's funeral at all?"
"Only bits and pieces. Why?"
"The song we played at it was one of his all-time favorites: 'Bless His Holy Name'. Since we've been talking about him so much today, do you want to try playing it one more time?"
"Sure! That's one song of his that I haven't heard lately. I'll have to see if it rings any bells."
Together they looked it up and after a brief moment of silence, Esperanza hit play.
Bless the Lord, O my soul
And all that is within me
Bless His holy name
...
He has done great things
He has done great things
He has done great things
Bless His holy name
...
As the song played, Sophia remembered white walls and a cherry casket, except 'remember' wasn't quite the right word. In addition to what was familiar, she saw new things as well--things she hadn't noticed at the time. In a part of the church that should have been empty, she saw three angels and they seemed to see her too, acknowledging her with a smile and a salute. Were these the guardians assigned to Iris, Esperanza, and herself? One of them moved his head upward slightly, as if to say "yes".
Hearing the song now, she was fascinated to see the number three figure so prominently. "He has done great things" seemed to have been sung once over each of the women after Lazarus, just like the number of angels present: one for Iris, one for Esperanza, and one for Sophia. Had he planned that, or was it coincidence? Further adding to the mystery was the fact that his birthdate had three 3s in it, that date being the 23rd day of March, 1983.
And though it couldn't be pinpointed factually from the sound, it seemed like there were four people total in the recording: one man and three women. It was almost like Lazarus was now in Andraé's position and happily leading his newly-restored three-woman generational line in worship, occasionally interjecting with spontaneous outpourings of gratitude. Of those interjections, perhaps the most oddly resonant was the statement, "He's brought us from a long, long way." Both of them smiled at that, knowing now just how true the statement actually was. In more ways than one, great distances had been traveled, and that which was lost had finally been found.