4th November Trinity
Revelation 21: 1-27
And I beheld the events in the
spirit out of which a new heaven and a new earth proceeded. For the earlier
heaven and the earlier earth were gone, and the billowing ocean is no more.
And further I saw the Holy City, untouched by the
earthly, coming forth out of the being of God, descending out of the spiritual
worlds
the New Jerusalem
She appeared in her beauty like
a bride who has adorned herself for the bridegroom.
And I heard a powerful voice coming from the throne
that said: “Behold the Dwelling of God in the midst of humanity. For He will
indeed dwell in your midst, and the people will be His people.
‘”God himself will be with them, and He will wipe
away every tear from their eye. There will be no more [bodily pain, nor soul pain, nor any other burdens
of the inmost being] death, nor sorrow, nor weeping [uproar] nor any other sound of pain, for the old world is
gone.”
And He who was seated on the throne said: “Behold:
I am creating all anew.”
And He said, “Write, for it is these words that
shall make faith and knowledge into true reality.”
And He said to me: “It is accomplished! I AM the
Alpha and the Omega, World Beginning and World Goal. To the thirsty I will give
from the springs of the waters of life, outside the workings of destiny, as
grace. He who overcomes, he shall inherit all this. ‘I will be His God, and to
me He will be like a son.’
“Those however who were cowardly [the spineless], and who had
no trust [the
faithless, unbelieving], who were servants of evil and perverted the image
of Man [the
despicable, vile, foul], who wanted to destroy the sacred [murderers], who went along impure paths of soul [sexually immoral, whoremongers], who worked with forces of evil [witches, practitioners of the magic arts], who bound themselves to evil beings [idolaters, idol-worshippers]—and all who served the Lie [liars of every kind]—their share
will be on the lake which burns as with fire and sulfur; that is the second
death, the death of the soul [the death after death].”
4th November Trinity
November 17, 2013
Rev 21: 1 – 9
We may wish to construct a building. For that we need a
clear idea of its purpose, so that the architect can create an appropriate
design, and the builders work accordingly.
At earth’s beginning, the sons of Adam had to learn how to
build dwellings in order to live on the earth. So too does humanity as a whole
need to learn to build a future collective dwelling place—but not just for
humans. We need to create a dwelling place that would include God and His Son.
This dwelling place is the collective heart of humanity. It is imaged as a
place of many mansions, a city. It will be a place where all the beauteous
inner treasures of humankind are gathered as gem-like building stones. This
heart-city will be a place where the divine enters and dwells like a groom
enters the bridal bower.
Paradoxically, this heart-city that we are building actually
emerges from the heart of God. For all of our noblest thoughts and feelings,
all our love and devotion, all our striving and work, we can offer to God. He
treasures it in His own great heart, until the time comes when the heart-city
is complete. It will be a place where Christ’s light is our daylight; a place where mercy and comfort abound; a place
where grace makes everything anew.
We have not come here to take
prisoners,
But to surrender ever more
deeply
To freedom and joy.
We have not come into this exquisite
world
To hold ourselves hostage from
love....
For we have not come here to
take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous
spirits,
But to experience ever and ever
more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom and
