Martyrdom

I had another vision.

I was in church, sitting on the left side, and the congregation split along the middle aisle, as if the right side slid further to the right. I saw a pillar of fire in the empty space. Then I saw a stream of colors, white and yellow and brown, melding together and running to the base of the pillar of fire. As I watched, the people sitting in front of me (the pastor, his wife, and another man) lost their color so they became white, and the began to melt into the stream of color. I asked, “What am I seeing?” A voice replied, “Martyrdom.”

I had no sense that this was an actual prediction of the deaths of these three people. Rather, I took it to mean that we are challenged to be willing to live our faith even in the face of fear of death. These three people are examples who to me appear to do just that.

But perhaps martyrdom means more than just facing death. In these times of political correctness and concern over what others think, are we willing to risk social martyrdom by proclaiming that which sounds crazy to our neighbors?

(I suspect I’ve already made this decision. I’m sure plenty of people think having visions qualifies as mental illness.)

We are approaching a time of trial. As I’ve written before, God will challenge us to live according to his commandments. (These are simple: Love God and love our neighbor.) It may become difficult or even dangerous to live the Gospel in our lives.

I took this vision as a challenge to us to prepare ourselves for the coming trials, that we are close to God and do not falter in our footsteps.