From Point A to Point B

 

He stood motionless like a tree in the midst of a massive forest, surrounded by fellow students, both older and younger, and little Isaac could not have felt more out of place than he did at this moment. He could hear multiple conversations going on around him, all seeming to take place with little to no effort from those involved. His mind was in constant motion, moving from one problem to the next, finding solutions to questions that most children never considered.

A dodge ball bounced off the side of his head and he watched it roll across the playground, while those around him laughed at the spectacle and his lack of response. He stood motionless for another few minutes until the recess bell rang, bringing them all from their few moments of freedom back into the classroom. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Isaac was thrilled to be away from the small-minded simpletons that surrounded him on a daily basis. He thrived in the classroom, knowing all of the answers but usually keeping his thoughts and opinions to himself.

He learned early on that knowing everything was usually used against him by those who could barely speak or think coherently. The math lesson ended to transition into United States history to be shut down by the bell marking the end of the day. He and all those with him gathered their things and walked in a single file line out to the bus to wait for its arrival. The bus arrived, he waited until everyone else fought to get in and “get the best seats” as they argued.

He sat directly behind the driver, working hard to ignore the noise and chaos all around him. Thankful for the short drive, he was the first to exit the bus and find his mother waiting for him when he burst through the front door. He dropped his backpack, took off his shoes and enjoyed homemade cookies at the kitchen counter. With a half groan, he trudged up the stairs and collapsed on his bed to clear his mind and make plans for the evening.

Within seconds after lying down, he fell asleep and found himself standing in the desert to see a large city in the distance. A flock of birds swept down from behind him and encircled a golden thread that reached from the heavens to a seemingly empty patch of desert, funneling around it like it was a type of cyclone. He made a mental note of the nearest buildings, the mountains that lay behind him, and the small river that flowed past the city. Unfortunately, nothing stood out as particularly interesting and he worked hard to remember every detail. He woke up from his vision to hear his mother calling his name for dinner.

The next eight years of school passed by very quickly and Isaac was invited to speak as valedictorian at his graduation. He had maintained a 4.0 GPA through all four years of high school and continued his educational journey through university to earn his bachelor’s degree, his Master’s degree, and his Ph. D in archeology. Six months after earning his string of degrees, he was invited to join an archeological dig in northern Egypt, which stirred up his memory of seeing the city in the desert, the birds around the golden thread, and the desire to see if anything in that area matched what he saw in his vision so many years before.

He accepted the offer after speaking with his parents, bought the plane ticket, and landed just outside of the city of Cairo. His grasp of Arabic was robust enough to read the signs, pick up a few words spoken by those around him, and casually interact enough to get by. As he waited out front, he saw a man holding a sign with his name on it. He approached him, introduced himself and began the two-hour drive north to the city of Alexandria.

As they approached the city, he realized that the scene that was before him was identical to the vision he had as a child. “Hmm, no birds, no golden thread,” he muttered to himself. “Now what am I supposed to do?” The man weaved skillfully through the busy streets and parked in front of the hotel.

“You have already been checked in,” he said, “and here is your key card for your room. The archeological leader will be calling you in less than two hours. I suggest that you get some dinner before you leave the hotel. I trust you’ll enjoy your stay.”

Isaac climbed out of the vehicle, retrieved his bag from the trunk and slowly walked into the hotel, giving a friendly wave to the young lady at the front desk. He took the elevator to the third floor, found his room, called room service, ordered a light dinner, and enjoyed a large bottle of water from the fridge in his room.

Thirty minutes later a knock sounded on his door, and he peeked through the viewer to see a young man in a uniform with a food trolley. He thanked the young man, gave him a considerable tip and enjoyed his meal, having not eaten since breakfast that morning with his parents. He unpacked, took a quick shower, and changed into a new set of clothes, wanting to look and feel refreshed for the remainder of the day.

His phone rang a full ninety minutes after he arrived in his room. After answering, he was greeted by the lead archeologist to learn that a few from the team would be arriving at the hotel to pick him up within thirty minutes. After a brief and friendly chat, he hung up the phone, sat down and documented everything he could remember from his vision as a child. “I really hope that I can tie all of this together, because clearly I am supposed to see or do something.”

Twenty minutes had passed so he descended to the lobby, took a seat, and waited for the others to arrive. Feeling both excited and thrilled at this remarkable opportunity, he watched one young man, and two young women enter the hotel, motion toward him, and greet him. The four of them climbed into their jeep to disappear into the desert and enter a small collection of tents surrounding the archeological site.

In a shocking and surprising turn of events, he and they stood at the edge of the dig, were greeted by the archeological head and Isaac watched a golden thread slowly descend from the sky and touch upon the ground just beyond the main point of research. Certain that only he and no one else could see this spectacle, he focused his attention on the details being explained to him by the lead archeologist. The five of them slowly walked through the dig, and he made several observations and comments about what was taking place.

He pulled the lead archeologist to the side and suggested that they should redirect a few of the others to the spot that held onto the golden thread. “Excuse me, sir, there is something curious about this patch of land over here. I think it would be worth our attention to excavate here. I often get instinctual stirrings when I’m at digs and this spot is particularly moving me.”

“Okay, Isaac, that is not surprising,” he said, “that patch of land has already been identified as a place of interest. If you feel so inclined, I’ll make you the lead for this section of ground. Let’s see if those instincts are right.”

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to dig into my instincts,” Isaac said. “I would like to start tomorrow morning, beings that it is so late into today.  I would like to spend some time with the other archeologists, observe the progress that has been made, and make some connections.”

The two men shook hands, and Isaac spent the next several hours of daylight chatting with the others at the site, learning the history of what had been uncovered thus far, and making mental notes of the progress at each of the three locations currently in progress. As darkness enveloped the area, everyone gathered their things, moved all of the latest finds into lock up, closed up the fencing, and departed for their respective hotels.

Isaac met the same three team members from the day before in the hotel lobby just as the sun was rising. Everyone arrived at the site at the same time, specific instructions were given out, leaving Isaac in charge of the fourth dig. Having mentally documented the exact position of the golden thread from the day before, he and his team marked out the boundaries of the new dig, with Isaac specifically focusing on the touch point of the golden thread.

A full thirty-six inches below the ground level, he and his team uncovered an intricate and detailed mosaic, which proved to be the oldest known floor mosaic of the first church in Alexandria. With this remarkable discovery, everyone was pulled from the other three digs and worked as a giant team uncovering and protecting this glorious spectacle. Within hours local media arrived at the scene to document and communicate the details of the find to the world at large.

Isaac’s parents, back in the United States watched as their son introduced the new find, gave details of the importance of this beautiful mosaic, and articulated the plans for how to preserve it, protect it, and eventually determine its age. He and his team spent the next ten weeks working with meticulous precision documenting and photographing the find, eventually deciding to leave the mosaic as it lay rather than move it to another place.

As time progressed, the dig was expanded to uncover the outer walls of the church that surrounded and originally housed the mosaic. With everything and everyone in place, state sanctioned security was put in place and Isaac returned home to find three different offers to join archeological sites across the Middle East.

Mentally exhausted and physically tired, he was thrilled to learn that he had several weeks before moving onto the next archeological experience in Syria. After a relaxing drive from the airport to home, he dropped his bag, removed his shoes and enjoyed his mother’s homemade cookies at the kitchen counter. While he ate, he read through the three offers, compared and contrasted the time needed for each, and discovered that they did not overlap, allowing him to be involved with each one, with a short break between each worksite.

Isaac placed three phone calls, confirmed his interest in joining each one, and clarified the dates that he would be on site. Thrilled to be home, he spent the last few hours with his parents before showering and going to bed early, with the comfort and peace of being at home with loved ones.