THE GLORIOUS DEAD!

The Spirit Of A Poet! 

One early evening after returning from a supermarket, I was very tired and threw myself on the sofa to rest. Suddenly, like a whirlwind, my spirit became agitated with this extreme need for urgency. 

I bowed my head and listened. The Spirit whispered and said, The Glorious Dead! Wow, what's this now? And like a daybreak from the darkest night, I remembered. 

Ten years earlier I stood over a bridge and something strange happened to me. This is that story. I dropped everything and started to write as the Spirit gave me utterance. 

I call this once-in-a-lifetime experience: The Spirit of a Poet! 

I hope this brief highlight will channel your understanding into what I'm talking about. Don't stress this has nothing to do with talking to ancestral spirits but rather connecting with ancient history thru talking grave stones. 

These stones looked at me and I looked at them. You'll be blown away when you discover how this encounter connects perfectly with 1st Corinthians 15. I write under the unction of the Holy Ghost! 😇

THE GLORIOUS DEAD!

Remove not the Ancient Landmark, which thy fathers have set. While standing on the bridge one bright afternoon, some few years ago; I didn't realize where I was until I looked down below my feet. There was something different about the immediate surroundings.

And oddly enough: felt like I was standing between two Worlds and sandwiched between two Climes at the same time. I had to establish the reason why I was having this palpable and mystic feeling. It was too real and too tangible to just wink at and let go.

Looking below the bridge I was shrouded with this sudden calmness as if I was standing in a drizzling rain, the minute I realized I was caught up inside a Moment in Ancient History!

Oh Lord, this was one of the oldest cemeteries in Johannesburg which caught my attention as if The Glorious Dead were beckoning me to hear their Whispers and their Stories Past. I was dazzled and petrified!

I stood still and remained oblivious to all the Hectic Life happening around me. Cars, People and all the City Noises were happening in Real Time but, I didn't take notice, for long odious minutes! I was caught up!

The Glorious Dead was the thought and words which kept playing in slow motion while my eyes were roving over these Majestic Tombstones in this Ancient Cemetery.

These Stones stood up and stared at me as if they were daring me: Look at us and despair, we stood the Test of Time and pulled thru all kinds of Weather! We’re still standing.

It was unbelievably true that in a typical busy City Day: I stood daydreaming when my spirit felt connected to these souls which walked on the same ground some three hundred years earlier.

Remove not the Ancient Landmark, which thy fathers have set: King Solomon warned his own Generation and even down to ours.

There is something mystic about The Glorious Dead if you dare to take a moment and think about the souls which always make Time to stand still: the Cemetery ceases to be just another burial place.

The Cemetery is our Ancient Landmark which represents the Indelible History of the Recent Past: where People of like nature, remind us through Serenity the true meaning of being Human!

There are also Celestial Bodies, and Bodies Terrestrial: but the Glory of the Celestial is one, and the Glory of the Terrestrial is another. There is one Glory of the Sun, and another Glory of the Moon, and another Glory of the Stars: for one Star differs from another Star in Glory.

The Great Apostle Paul was talking mysteries in simple terms which sought to draw an adjacent line between the Living and the Dead. Without any further objections, you will all agree with me: this was the case of The Glorious Dead!

So also, is the Resurrection of the Dead. It is sown in Corruption; it is raised in in corruption: It is sown in Dishonour; it is raised in Glory: It is sown in Weakness; it is raised in Power: It is sown a Natural Body; it is raised a Spiritual Body. There is a Natural Body, and there is a Spiritual Body.

In this part of the Scripture, Apostle Paul was talking about Death and Dying for every human being in the face of the Earth. Death occurs to both the Rich and the Poor: The Weak and the Powerful, bemoaned King Solomon.

In Death and Dying at the graveyards or cemeteries, all the Dead are equal in the eyes of God just as they were during their Lifetime. Over the years, all souls, and every life wind up Dead, and gets buried in the same ground where we all came from: with only grave markers separating the Poor from the Rich.

Our Grave Epitaph remains the sole witness to the futile life once lived by the person buried underground.

The Glorious Dead! I shall never forget that one afternoon, when I stood over the Ancient Landmark and overlooked this Grandeur Centuries Old Cemetery: where Time stood still for me as I seemed to be communicating with these Majestic Stones and felt the connection with People I’ve never met in this life.

O’ yes, I talked back to the Wind and thanked God for making me discover this most Important Moment in History.

I stood and gazed at the History and History looked at me as if She was saying: We see, we feel and hear you Sydney: Thank you for Remembering us! This all happened in 2012, I was Honoured and flabbergasted to be standing in the midst of The Glorious Dead!

For I know that Thou wilt bring me to Death, and to the House Appointed for all Living. There’s Glory in Death and among the Dead! Yes, the Dead are Glorious! What a God! There’s Life even in Death… Sometimes, Yea, never mind!

The Glorious Dead Epitaph Written By: Sydney Pikelela Gutyungwa

© 23rd June 2022

Featured Title Song: Black Frost

From The Featured Album: Baddest

Smooth Jazz Artist: Grover Washington Jr.

© 1996

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ALL COPYRIGHTED MUSIC VIDEOS USED IN THIS BLOG ARE NOT MONETIZED BUT USED ONLY TO HIGHLIGHT AND ENHANCE READING: POEMS, ESSAYS AND NARRATIVES OF THE AUTHOR. I DO NOT OWN ANY MUSIC COPYRIGHT: ALL VIDEOS ARE USED WITH DUE RESPECT TO THE ARTISTS IN FAIR USE MANNER!