{"id":673,"date":"2005-01-09T02:01:00","date_gmt":"2005-01-09T07:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hugodlr.com\/?p=673"},"modified":"2005-01-09T02:01:00","modified_gmt":"2005-01-09T07:01:00","slug":"eternity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hugodlr.com\/?p=673","title":{"rendered":"Eternity"},"content":{"rendered":"

God has planted eternity in the human heart.<\/em> – Ecclesiastes 3:11<\/p>\n

One of the books I’m currently reading is The Purpose Driven Life<\/em>. The 4th Chapter is titled Made to Last Forever<\/em>. These are my thoughts\/reflections on it . . .<\/p>\n

God exists in timelessness (which is different from eternity – eternity lasts forever – timelessness is th absence of time). God’s own life (grace) is a part of us. So we long to be part of that timeless existence – we yearn and desire to shift ourselves into God’s time (kairos<\/em> time). Individually and as a human family, we wait in joyful hope for the day when we will leave this imperfect and timebound world and move on to our final destination.<\/p>\n

I like the sentence\/idea of “living in light of eternity.” It moves and shifts our perception (there’s that word again!) from a selfish, self-centered worldview to one that is more inclusive of others; one that is other- and service-oriented.<\/p>\n

However . . .<\/p>\n

The author suggest that if this life was all there is, he would encourage people to “live it up.”<\/p>\n

The post-modern in me vehemently disagrees. Going back to Richard Rorty (another book I’m reading irony, contingency, & solidarity<\/em>), we can still choose to passionately live a life dedicated to ideals of love, service and sacrifice. Even if this life were all God gave us, we could still choose to live it in such a way that we made a difference here and now, as well as later on for our children and their children. Timeless suffering or joy is a good motivator, but ultimately we could still choose to follow Jesus, and have our “reward” be nothing more than knowing that we had lived a life of congruency.<\/p>\n

Again, though, I agree with another quote: Every act of our lives strikes some chord that will vibrate in eternity<\/em>. Our actions here do have eternal consequences. As a Catholic, one of the teachings of my church is that our actions here – our sins and our good deeds – will determine our final resting place – either we’re gonna be air-conditioned for all eternity, or we’re gonna fry. \ud83d\ude42 We condition ourselves in this life to live the next – so if we persist in unforgiveness (both giving and receiving) we will forever shut the door to the One who is Forgiveness. Accordingly, if we practice forgiveness and loving-kindness here and now, we will be able to accept the forgiveness of the One.<\/p>\n

I also think our actions have temporal consequences, consequences that we can feel here and now, though these mostly involve conscience and quality of interior living.<\/p>\n

“All life is suffering” (to quote the Buddha), and part of that suffering flows from our “unright” actions. Even if there was no hell, this life could become a lifetime of hell, made so by our own actions, our own thoughts, our own conscience.<\/p>\n

Until tomorrow . . .<\/p>\n

Blessings & Peace,
\n
Hugo
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God has planted eternity in the human heart. – Ecclesiastes 3:11 One of the books I’m currently reading is The<\/p>\n

Continue readingEternity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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