Earth breaks up, time drops away,
In flows heaven, with its new day.
~Robert Browning (1812-1889)
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne. And He Who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. … And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” … And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him Who is seated on the throne and worship Him Who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.”
~ John, The Beloved Disciple, in Revelation 4
Oh beloved, it is true.
We can see it in the moment, if we are willing to stay still, and in that moment.
Some twenty years ago, I had a meal with a friend and brother in Dublin, Ireland. We were in a centuries old pub… That night felt like a song from forever. And the next morning, I went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells and the Long room. It is moments like this that give us a taste…
Then, there was this crazy trip to Inner Mongolia. This fool of a writer found himself out on the plains, on a Pentecost Sunday – teaching the locals how to play American Football – and sharing the Gospel given in our Great Commission some 2,000 years ago. And earlier, i had met some BRIGHT EYED believers in that place and got to listen to some 1,000 year old music from a group playing horsehead fiddles, throat singing and and trancing on drums. Time fades to irrelevance in times like this.
Can we see it?
It does get immeasurably better!
Have you thought about what Heaven will be like?
I have dreamed it, and seen it in my spirit. There is a coolness and brightness that brings clarity beyond belief. And the Wind of His Spirit drives the banner of The Kingdom out away from the 100 meter high pole and the hardware clinks against the truly stainless metal that makes up the structure.
And in that place, we will worship Him. Oh, think not of some forever church service. Truly, He will the Absolute Center of our attention. We will indeed worship Him, but every deed, word, moment, and attitude will flow from what is meant by worshipping Him in Spirit, and in Truth.
But then… Oh!! To sit at table with our King, Husband, Lord, Lover, Brother and Friend. Yes. Don’t miss this. We have been adopted into the Family of G_d. We will surely be with Him in all things.
And to sing, looking into His infinite Eyes, while He receives the praise He is most gloriously due…. !
And then. Then…… He will look into our eyes. He will, with that one eternal glance, show Himself as our Very Great Reward. Every emptiness will be smashed away by the effulgence of His Presence now coming into us. And He will sing a song He Himself has written for us. This same Jesus will rejoice over us infinitely more fully than we will ever be able to Love Him. Oh my!
So, are you stuck in time? Are you bored? Listen to the music. It may come in a song, or an activity, or smell, or unexpected moment. But, when it comes, embrace it! Be lavished by it. Know that this moment is but a taste of an eternal moment that will expand forever in His Loving Presence!
“Take heart: I AM. Be not afraid.” The Name frees from fear. To take heart, to be in the Name is to be fearless in heart even when fears are arising in the soul. Fear is rooted in the confusion between ourselves and God, which in turn divides us from ourselves, each other, and from God. The subtle centres below the heart are ruled by fear: fear for survival, fear for security, fear of domination. Bound by fear, these more primitive levels cannot know what the heart knows. They cannot assimilate what love knows. But they arise in us. They live in us. … Once we take heart, love arises. Fear is felt, but melts, melts into love, for love gently overcomes fear. Fear arises but self-liberates into light, from mind to heart, from root to crown. These are the mysteries of theoria and theosis in the Name.
~Priest-Monk Silouan
Let God work, and think only of dying to the present moment without reservation, as though it were the whole of eternity.
~ François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon
