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"All mankind is of one author and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language... God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another." - John Donne
INTRODUCTION
Surely our innate sense of eternity, and our ability to even grasp the subject, or our capacity to dream and see a vision of what things could be, must distinguish us among creation. I wonder if my dog dreams of immortality or my cat ponders a heaven to be gained and a hell to be shunned? And yet radical post-modernists would decry such a distinction as human pride similar to those who once held the view that the sun revolved around the earth. Taken just from a physical standpoint, which is often the only realm post-modernists subscribe to, they would be right - physically we are not much different from the rest of this earth's creatures. But, there is one striking difference - we have an eternal journal!
TREMBLING FOUNDATIONS
Surely it is easy to lose sight of our spiritual immortality when we are continually assaulted by the excesses of materialism. John Derbyshire, not too subtly but accurately, describes our condition, "Look at us! Look at the gross vulgar overflowing fat wealth we live amongst! Look at the great cars that 20-year-old kids drive 400 yards to the mall, to buy things they don't need, gadgets to pack into houses already overflowing with gadgets, clothes to cram into closets stuffed with clothes. Look at the work we do, sitting in humming cubicles scrolling through screens full of numbers, numbers that measure our wealth. Look at the bright, airy schools our kids attend, to be taught that their ancestors were moral criminals, their parents are liars, their culture is a sham. Look at our 'reality TV' programs, where people with empty heads wallow in infantile hedonism. Look at our fool diplomats, poring over their treaties and resolutions and communiqués, while young men with burning eyes slip silently into our cities with boxes, canisters, cargoes, vials, and suitcases curiously heavy. Look at this proud tower! And feel its foundations tremble." These words truly hit home and convict us of our own excesses, hinting perhaps at the real reason why such hate, fueled by envy and hunger, is directed at America.
A BOOK HIDDEN FROM VIEW
Surely the suicide (spelt h.o.m.i.c.i.d.e.) bomber who thinks he is killing himself and spilling innocent blood in the service of Allah, on the promise of an immediate promotion to a sin-forgiving heaven with seventy virgins at his disposal, is 'translated' not by God's hand but his own, and therefore places himself in a book hidden from view! Perhaps his 'hell' will be an eternal obscurity, just the opposite of our natural desire to be accepted and loved in this life, and ultimately, come into a greater relationship with the family of heaven in the next where 'every book shall lie open to one another.'
THE INGATHERING
Surely God's desire is to gather all humanity to Himself. His hand will 'bind up all our scattered leaves again,’ bringing a great harvest into His heart. He has set up an eternal journal for everyone who obeys His voice. It will contain a story without end. This hope lifts us up out of the mundane and into the unpredictable wonders of eternity. This is why, even though we were all born here, we won't end up here. But, heaven can wait a little longer!
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