Jacob Nordby - The Divine Arsonist: A Tale of Awakening

The Divine Arsonist

____________________

A Tale of Awakening

by Jacob Nordby

Awakened Life Publications

Boise, ID

The Divine Arsonist

Copyright 2012

Jacob Nordby

Cover design by Thayne Rigby

ISBN -10 : 1469964082

ISBN -13: 978-1469964089

LCCN: 2012901643

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwiseexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Published by Awakened Life Publications

Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful for the many teachers, guides and helpers I have encountered. Without them, this book would not have been written. Several dear friends read the rough manuscript and offered critical encouragement: Dan, Karen, Aline, Mark, Shari, David, Craig, Roxanne, Lisa, Autumn and my mother, Corry.

My wife, Jennifer, held space for me to fall apart, find myself, write this book and do seemingly endless inner work.

I am grateful for the inspired work of independent editor, Autumn Antal . Her tenacity, patience and deep understanding of this books spirit gave me great peace during the process.

T hanks to fellow author, Craig Hart, for formatting the book and providing much needed companionship along the way. www.CraigHartOnline.com

Thayne Rigby designed the cover, my website and is a friend I talk with almost every day. www.antishrillwebdesign.com

There are times on Earth when extraordinary consciousness invades everyday life. There are times on Earth when unseen forces make a calamity of the status quo. There are times on Earth when it seems as though a divine arsonist has set fire to the world as we know it.

We live in such times.

Chapter One

How are you feeling about this? You need to consider that before you make a decision, the stranger said.

I sat and looked at him across the campfire flames. In the mountain darkness, he seemed to flicker in and out of existence with the dancing firelight. Far away down the valley, an owl hooted. Suddenly the sound was over our heads in the tall pine tree. Another owl had answered the call. Who, the owl asked persistently, who, who?

Yes, who indeed? Who was I? Who was living this night and who was this visitor sharing wi ne with me now under the stars?

The strange man sat still and looked into the fire. He appeared just a few hours ago and made me a most unusual proposition, but there was no urgency or nervousness in his manner. He was at rest and waiting for my reply, while at the same time, he gave me the sense that I could delay for decades before I answered if need be.

I, on the other hand, felt anything but restful. My central nervous system was sending out the kind of alarms that signal the fear of impending death. It was that same feeling of anticipation in the last seconds before a sky dive, or just after youve strapped in for the most insane roller coaster ride at an amusement park. I was sure that my mind was about to be blown.

I could not reconcile these physical sensations with my understanding of the man's words. Although what he said was not normal, it should not have triggered this powerful squeeze in my solar plexus. Something very big must be just below the surface, something that was not obvious to my conscious mind. It was as if I had crept onto the roof of a skyscraper. As if I were lying on my belly with my nose over the edge, watching the tiny people and cars moving seventy-nine stories below. Obviously, I would not fall. Yet I knew with deep inevitability, this time I would not be able to resist. Against all reason, I knew that I would leap, screaming and flailing into the unknown.

I rallied my senses and drew in a deep breath. The visitors eyes met mine and he raised his eyebrows.

I don't know how I feel, I said.

You do, he told me, but you don't want to admit to being afraid.

He was right. I knew better than to be afraid. I had cultivated a life of fearless behavior. Hadnt I? Fear was for lesser men and I had determined long ago not to be one of them.

You should be afraid, he said. Well, actually you shouldn't, but it is quite normal.

That's it, though, I said. I don't shrink from challenges. I meet life head on. I believe in the power of belief.

He fixed his powerful gaze on me. I felt locked in place.

You are living a life you think you should live, he said. Youve built a castle in your mind and believe youre safe within its walls. If you come with me, I will take you to places so far away that you may never be able to return. If you do return, you will find your castle is no more. Thats why you feel afraid.

So youre asking me to change my whole life, I said.

Im asking you to let me show you things youve always suspected. Once you see them, once you experience them, once you know them with all your senses, then yes, you may have a hard time going back to what you currently call your life, he said.

~~~

The day a cosmic rock cracked the windshield of life as I knew it began like any other

It happened on a bright autumn afternoon in mid-October. I was at my desk in a rare moment of stillness. Life was busy so life was good. I was an entrepreneur happily engaged in the pursuit of winning the Big Game of Business.

I leaned back into the leather chair and rested my neck, something I seldom did in this office and closed my eyes. It felt great just to find a minute of quiet. My life was filled with meetings and telephone calls and debt payments and P&L sheets. I was a proud Super Servant to my clients and staff. I had studied intensely to become a man of value in every way.

Perhaps thats why I was so tired that day. It had been years since I had really slept well. I was famous among my friends and associates for waking up at 3:30 A.M. to devour books, write business plans and dream up exciting schemes.

A soft ding from the computer automatically brought my head upright. My eyes blinked open and took a few seconds to focus. I was like Pavlov's dog with my Outlook email notifications. It was now a conditioned response. I had a new message in my inbox. Must check it. Always.

This one was from my friend, Luke. He rarely sent me notes and when he did, they were straight from the heart. I double clicked and the new window opened.

>>Hey, read this today while I sat by a lake up in the Wasatch Front. Thought you'd like it, wild man!

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.

Henry David Thoreau

Love you buddy. Later.

Luke

P.S. Call me!

Something about that quote reverberated through my body like a deep gong. Boomsheee ! I read it again. Then again.

I went to the woods to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not l earn what it had to teach to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life

It reminded me of one of my favorite movie scenes from Dead Poets Society when Robin Williams leans in and whispers in a ghostly voice over his students' shoulders, CarpeCarpe Diem seize the day, boys! Make your lives extraordinary.