Monday, May 17, 2004
Sunday couldn't have been much more beautiful. Walking in the neighborhood with my five-year-old daughter, we heard and saw birds and squirrels in almost every tree. We saw robins in almost every yard, sparrows here and there, many red-winged black birds and one bright red cardinal, sitting on a street sign. The air was full of the smell of new mown grass and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We snipped some branches from our white butterfly bush for a vase, did plenty of yard word, did plenty of swinging on the swingset. The butterfly bush is in full bloom and the odor infuses the back yard.
We have video cameras so we can record and playback events like my daughter's pre-school graduation or my son's baseball games. We have still cameras to record memories of birthdays and anniversaries and every day fun. We have CD's to play our favorite music and cassette recorders and mp3 records to keep memories of music and voices fresh. I've even been seeing these any-flavor beans, or belly beans, like from Harry Potter, that seem to give you a hint of just about any flavor you'd like... but why has no one invented a way to record the smell of our butterfly bush mingling with the smell of the cut grass? Why isn't there a way to replay the sensation of your youngest child leaning her head back into your shoulder as you read her favorite book to her.
There was a Star-Trek movie where people were swept into a ribbon of light called, "The Nexus." Inside the light, they had no concept of anything but living their perfect life forever. Some seem to believe that's what heaven will be like, like living yesterday's beauty out forever... but I don't much believe in that kind of heaven. I think God is outside of Time as we know it. I've always rather thought that everyone dies at the same time, related to Heaven. So when I die, it will be the same day in Heaven as when my grandfather died, the same day as St. Peter died, the same day as Adam died... what a day in Heaven it will be, that final judgement day, when all Men and all Women who ever were or will be enter the gates. So I don't put much hold in psychics, like Sylvia Brown, who see ghosts and relatives all around us who don't even know they're dead. The Bible says that when people die, they are sleeping until the day Jesus returns. Of course, I may have to alter my view to allow for the communion of the saints now that I'm becoming Catholic.
Speaking of the Gates of Heaven, why does Heaven need walls and gates? Our 2nd reading on Sunday was from Revelations 21. John saw the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven with "massive, high walls and 12 gates for the 12 tribes" and "The walls of the city had 12 courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb." Does that mean "Judas" is one of the inscribed names on the walls of heaven?
Something for me to ponder today.
We have video cameras so we can record and playback events like my daughter's pre-school graduation or my son's baseball games. We have still cameras to record memories of birthdays and anniversaries and every day fun. We have CD's to play our favorite music and cassette recorders and mp3 records to keep memories of music and voices fresh. I've even been seeing these any-flavor beans, or belly beans, like from Harry Potter, that seem to give you a hint of just about any flavor you'd like... but why has no one invented a way to record the smell of our butterfly bush mingling with the smell of the cut grass? Why isn't there a way to replay the sensation of your youngest child leaning her head back into your shoulder as you read her favorite book to her.
There was a Star-Trek movie where people were swept into a ribbon of light called, "The Nexus." Inside the light, they had no concept of anything but living their perfect life forever. Some seem to believe that's what heaven will be like, like living yesterday's beauty out forever... but I don't much believe in that kind of heaven. I think God is outside of Time as we know it. I've always rather thought that everyone dies at the same time, related to Heaven. So when I die, it will be the same day in Heaven as when my grandfather died, the same day as St. Peter died, the same day as Adam died... what a day in Heaven it will be, that final judgement day, when all Men and all Women who ever were or will be enter the gates. So I don't put much hold in psychics, like Sylvia Brown, who see ghosts and relatives all around us who don't even know they're dead. The Bible says that when people die, they are sleeping until the day Jesus returns. Of course, I may have to alter my view to allow for the communion of the saints now that I'm becoming Catholic.
Speaking of the Gates of Heaven, why does Heaven need walls and gates? Our 2nd reading on Sunday was from Revelations 21. John saw the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven with "massive, high walls and 12 gates for the 12 tribes" and "The walls of the city had 12 courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb." Does that mean "Judas" is one of the inscribed names on the walls of heaven?
Something for me to ponder today.
