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Part II: Journey to Death (the reality of sin)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23  NLT

Leif, Isabella and Kamiko must make a perilous journey to rescue Devan, and learn more of the purpose of life along the way.

Chapter 1
15 Years Later

     Agent Leif wondered how long he must wait in the darkness before the Manform would show up. Here on the roof he had a good view of the route the Manform would probably use, but the night air was chilling.
     He let his thoughts drift back fifteen years ago to when he and his friends had taken their journey, and to the moment they stepped into the golden sphere. He often thought of that moment, especially when he needed to remember why he accepted the task to be an agent of the Source.
     The first thing he had realized in the sphere was that he was as close to the Source as was possible in his present life. Joy, peace and contentment washed over him at the same time. He sensed, more than saw, the three hearts of the Source. And somehow he knew an incredible love for him was also emanating from each heart.
     The Source spoke within him. "You have finished your journey. From now on you will be able to sense my Beat and flows stronger and clearer than those who have not finished their journey.
     “I am assigning you to be my agent. You and Isabella will be my agents in Back. Kamiko and Devan will be my agents in Beyond. As my agent, your life will be hard, but through the hardships you will be drawn ever closer to me. My world is Sourceworld and you cannot be in my world yet. You still have things to do in your world.
     “As my agent I can draw you closer and closer to me and my world. Your heart must beat with mine. The Beat is the beat of my heart. As you find what makes my heart beat, you can better help others be drawn to me.
     “Stay true to your teaching. Stay true to your Longing. Stay true to me and you will have life and purpose and meaning. Stay in the Beat. Stay in the Lighting. I have given you everything you need to succeed."
     From that point on, Leif's life was forever changed. He had returned to Back, gained control over the Leif-who-gets-hungry, married Isabella, and reported to the Agency for training.
     And now, here he was on another assignment to counter the effects of the Manform on someone who was beginning to long for more from life. It was one of many similar assignments he had had over the last fifteen years.
     I guess I'm no longer a rookie, he mused.
     Leif was jerked out of his reveries by a slight movement down below. At the same time, his Sensing picked up the presence of the Manform. The Manform came to the wall of the house and walked through it, something they could do in Back that they couldn’t do in Beyond.
     The victim within the house was lying in bed thinking there had to be more to life, if he only knew how to find it. He had heard of those who let their longing for more take them to a land far away, a land with answers to what he was seeking.
     Leif used his Sensing to sense the Manform approach the man and flow a pale red stream of false truth at him, telling the man he was wasting his time searching, and that where he was now, in the Land of Back, was all the purpose of life there was. The Manform flowed a pale blue stream of false healing, causing the man to fear going on with his search.
     "That way lies danger," the Manform flowed. "It will drive you mad." The man moaned.
     Leif could have chased off the Manform before he ever entered the house, but the Agency found it was better to let the person experience the bad to see how much stronger the Source was.
     Leif shot forth a blinding flash of red truth flow and blue healing flow at the man. The red truth flow said, "Continue your search. Continue longing for more from life. You will find it if you keep longing." The blue healing stream flowed strength and hope and reassurance to the man.
     It had the opposite effect on the Manform, who instantly hissed and tried to flow his streams at Leif.
     Nice try, ugly, Leif thought. Let's see what you do with this.
     Leif shot a red stream consisting of the Three Great Truths at the Manform.
     Knowing he was defeated, the Manform hissed at Leif one last time and retreated, but not before flowing one last remark. "We know your flow. We know who you are. We know where you and your wife live."
     "Yeah, yeah," Leif shot back. But he knew he could never let his guard down.
     Wearily Leif stood up and began the trip back to Agency Headquarters. He sensed the man he was sent to protect was at peace and still desired to pursue his search. Hopefully the man would find himself in the Land of Beyond, just as Leif had done. It was up to him. Leif and the other agents could only do so much.
     The Source was the answer to the man's search, although here in the Land of Back so many things could drown out this fact.
     For starters, each person had a physical body that needed food and drink and shelter. The enemy used this effectively to make people fearful they had to trust in each other and on the Pulsing for food and drink, rather than the Source. Leif knew from his journey in Beyond that when he relied on the Source, physical hunger was never an issue. However, that was in Beyond. Here in Back he had to constantly battle the part of him that always hungered for physical food. That part of him also attacked him with thoughts and emotions of fear of dying. Dying from thirst, from hunger, from accidents or age…from whatever. Such was life in Back.
     At least Kamiko and Devan didn't have that fierce of a battle in this area. In Beyond one could overcome the part of them still in Back much easier, though it could still tempt you.
     It wasn’t that eating was wrong, it was who you were looking to to provide the food, Leif realized. And that determined who you were looking to to provide everything else in life.
     Then there were the Manforms and Dark Forms, dark masses of evil whose sole purpose in Back was to destroy people’s longing. They could attack anyone with lies and false emotions. Which is why Leif's next stop was the Big Board. As he walked inside Agency HQ Leif was struck again by how impressive the Big Board was. It covered one entire wall and was a map of his group's sector, the sector the Source had assigned him to. The map was cordoned off in a grid pattern with any part of the grid further expanding into more detail until Leif could view any house on any street of his sector.
     The amazing thing about the map was it showed if any person in their sector was longing for more from life, and therefore a prospect for being pulled into Beyond. A green glow at a location on the map indicated a person who was longing. The brighter the glow, the stronger the longing. Orange meant a person who was previously a green was wavering and was under attack by the Manforms. Red meant a previous green that had lost all longing, but perhaps could be re-ignited. At any moment of time, greens, oranges and reds were flashing across the board. Leif and the other agents were most interested in those which glowed orange, for those were the ones under attack.
     "Leif," one of the agents in the room asked. "How’d it go?"
     "Piece of cake," Leif responded, collapsing at his desk. "As you know, our life couldn't be easier."
     The agents around him laughed.

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