The Spring of Manah

Word count: 1,001

I arrived in the Valley of the Lilies after several days of flight and bus travels. I was in high heavens. I went to my hotel, rested for a while, and changed out of my travel clothes. I tingled with a joy beyond my imagination, my heart throbbed with such strong vibration that shook each fiber of my being. My hands shook, I felt an enormous energy that traveled through me, and gave me a sense of finality.

I stood before the great Spring of Manah, fascinated and connected. I stared at It, and felt again the joy that awoke the very intimate yearnings in my soul, the very first time I learned about the Spring. As I watched with thousands of hope bubbles in my heart, It suddenly turned purple and became a hugh waterfall. It cascaded from the great heavens, and rained down upon me with crystalline drops. I stood, transfixed as I enjoyed the touch of the warmth and softness of the water. I closed my eyes, succumbed to the touch of the drops that seemed to wash away the sins of anger and frustrations that lingered within me, long before I came to see the Spring. I was lulled into a lullaby of quiet peace that lifted away the many years of agony of pain, of separation, from family, from loved ones.

The Spring of Manah spoke to me in tones of hope and love, touched the many signs of desperation within me, and whiled away the many points of shame that led me to the perilous journey of selfishness and woe. The many worrisome natures of my being began to release the heartaches of yesterday, and chased away evil thoughts that dominated my life.

However, something must have happened somewhere within the vicinity of the Spring because the mountain of crystalline drops turned into large boulders that rained upon my head in twos and threes. I began to waste, gradually I lost all of my human form. I flowed endlessly into the pit of the Spring, somewhat breathless.

I found myself in the river of Spring water, stuck between two boulders. I was all at once made aware of a rustling movement not two feet from me. I gazed and recognized the individual who had been creeping behind me since I got to the Valley. She, too, wanted the Spring, I thought so. However, I arrived first and since I had become one with the Spring, my ire rose within me with such venom. I spewed ugly words that hurt and demeaned her. My anger did not abate when she waded into the Spring. I screamed at her, demanded the boulders to slam their weight on her and crush her. I believed she got scared because she began to turn away. However, the boulders engulfed her completely and turned her into teeny pebbles that dropped by the side of the road. Like the pebbles that she was, every single of her got buried and swallowed in the earth.

Back home and rested a few weeks later, I thought of the Spring of Manah within the aloneness of my apartment. I felt again that oneness I had with It. There was the goodness of the water, the warmth of being within It, the lull of hush that seemed to touch every fiber of my being. In my reverie, I became one with It. I felt Its wholesomeness, Its peaceful touch, Its calmness. I became the Spring of Manah.

For centuries I turned into colors of the rainbow. I sprinkled my wholesome water upon people who came and visited me. I gave them that feeling of quietude, made them aware of the healing power of my water. I touched their hearts and turned their vicious thoughts into powerful actions that made them aware of the presence of peace in their lives. I shone brightness into the darkest corners of their lives. I gave them purpose, intentions that made them aware of what oneness is all about.

The acts of miracles that poured out of my soft spring water became a global story. When people visited, they spoke in hushed tones. They smiled and wondered as each drop of my water touched them. They felt a new beginning in their lives. They came to feel the warmth of the water. They came to visit and they wondered; and when they left they took with them the wholesomeness of my Spring water.

The peace and quiet of the Valley of the Lilies became the wonder of the world because of my Spring water. Shared by all of those who have visited Me as well as of those who made plans to come, I not only made certain that my Spring water was always fresh, warm and soft. I made it a point that no individual, who is evil and devilish would ever extend her/his arm and touch my Spring water. I crafted my Spring water to give hope to people who have experienced hardship and desolation. I developed my Spring water to be as warm as when I first touched It. I made certain that my Spring water was going to heal the wounded and cure the feeble and the sick.

The Spring of Manah has become a sensation to many who visit the Valley of the Lilies as well as to those who have been, gone and seen what the Spring has given to them. They stare and they smile; they love to make up stories that connect them to the clear water of the Spring. Their stories go beyond valleys and towns and cities in the world, to be told and retold a number of times. Many, in fact, have wondered and have in the final analysis learned to accept the story of the Spring of Manah, a miraculous mystery.