Brian Godawa Quote

What have I done? What have I become? I am a monster. Mary, whispered Jesus, you are forgiven. A wave of peace came over her like nothing she had ever felt before. In the cave, she had experienced release. But now she felt the tendrils of healing gently digging deeper into her, like a new tree planting its roots into her heart, the true Tree of Life. But there was so much darkness in her. It was as if her soul was stuck in deep sludge. She looked up at him and thought, How could this be? How could I be cleansed from so vile a heart and life? As if he heard her thoughts, he said, Let us go. It is time you were baptized, so you can finally believe what is already true of you. But what about Gaia? What about the angels? Jesus looked over at the colossal tree, a good hundred feet away from them. He said to her, I have two baptisms I perform. Water and fire. He looked up into the heavens. Mary saw a column of fire pour out from the sky onto the mighty tree and engulf it in flames. She heard the crackling sounds of burning timber, felt the wave of hot air blow over her. As it burned, she thought she heard the spiritual piercing shrieks with wailing and gnashing of teeth. It felt more inside her head than from the tree, which she knew was the source of the pain. She understood at that moment that the baptism of water was salvation and the baptism of fire was judgment.