When our people first woke up on this world, we were astounded. Endless lands and seas lay before us, seemingly only so that we could find peace and love. But the road to this peace has not come without its problems. Countless wars, disease, and other grief have riddled our history, and death is one obstacle we may never overcome. We still do not fully understand what we have found, but we know it to be the closest approximation of God, and for the moment, that remains our position. Throughout time, even amongst the tragedy, we have also made progress. We went from living in trees, to in caves, to building shelters for ourselves, to building shelters for others. Yes, we learned to specialize our skills so that, while those best at building structures were busy doing what they do, others could plant our crops. This was the spark of civilization. We advanced even further, constructing vessels capable of crossing to the middle of lakes to hunt for the kinds of fish who choose to stay away from the shore. We made these vessels even larger, and were able to sail them up and down the coast, trading with each other, and sharing our knowledge. Eventually, the ships became so magnificent and sturdy that they could survive trips away from the coastline, across the vast ocean, and to other continents. It was in these continents that we found new friends; some more advanced than us, and some less. We did not always get along, but most of us knew that we were headed towards greatness.
Then one day, the crew of one of these ships found themselves in the middle of a terrible storm. The sky darkened, the waters became wretched...they could not navigate. Soon, they were not able to control their movements at all; forced to surrender to the whims of God. They were fearful and uncertain, but as it turned out, God was not punishing them. She was directing them even closer to her so that we could catch a glimpse of her glory. After the storm had passed, the sunlight broke through and showed them what has now become the greatest discovery in our history. It is hard to explain to those who have never experienced it. It could only be seen at certain angles, at certain times of day, and only by those with excellent vision. It was this fleeting wave of sparkling light, hovering over the ocean. Our best philosophers could not explain it, and so we began to worship it as a window to heaven. Word spread, and people all over the world came to witness its majesty, and make their attempts to draw nearer. We built yet larger vessels, trying to get high enough to reach the God window, but were always unsuccessful. We simply do not have the resources or understanding to build something that high in that location. Most believe this to be a sign that we are not worthy, and this may be true. But this did not stop a young girl named Jiredia.
Jiredia was born as the runt of the family, much sooner than her mother should have delivered her. Her parents kept her close and safe, for her body has always been frail, and unsuited for the rambunctious life of a normal child. Somehow, this young girl became the miracle that has brought God closer than ever to us. Her size and lightness was perfect, for only she could accomplish what many have tried many times before. Instead of building something tall enough to reach the window, she simply flew up to it. She and her two older brothers caught and trained a Great Silverbird that had taken nest not far from their village. People have tried to tame Silverbirds in the past, though to no avail, but it was because they lacked what Jiredia and her brothers had in spades. They were patient. And caring. They treated the bird, named Villo, like royalty; feeding it, playing with it, and even letting it free to hunt on its own, knowing that it would eventually return to its new home.
After months of slow progression, they began to train Villo to carry passengers. Though Great Silverbirds are the largest bird species in the world, they are not generally strong enough to carry people on their backs...unless they happen to be Jiredia, who was now both old enough to take care of herself, but small and light enough to not burden the Silverbird. They transported Villo to the location of the God window, placed Jiredia on him, and let him loose. They flew around for awhile, amazing all visitors present, but then they headed straight for the floating ball of light, and took it down. Once her hand touched the God window, it became completely visible as a metallic sphere. After all this time, we had finally reached our goal, but this was not the end of God’s tests. As Jiredia held her prize over her head, showing the cheering witnesses her accomplishment, the sphere turned red, and burned her hand. The pain grew to be too much, and she dropped it in the water. Our journey is not yet over. While before we had to find a way to reach great heights, we now must learn to reach the depths. But now we know something we didn’t before...that we can do it. We will one day learn God’s secrets.
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