{"id":633,"date":"2012-05-23T23:32:40","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T04:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/?p=633"},"modified":"2016-11-02T23:33:48","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T04:33:48","slug":"immortals-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/2012\/05\/23\/immortals-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Immortals All"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization\u2014these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit\u2014immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.” -CS Lewis<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Came across this quote of C. S. Lewis\u2019s a while back. Didn\u2019t know what to do with it. I think it had to percolate around in my head.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I came up with:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It seems like a paradox that he says that all those things are mortal when we have evidence of them all around us, whether present or past. In my puny mind some of those things have been around forever- even if they are so old they are in a state of continual decay.\u00a0 Yet, everything on this earth fashioned by human hands is made from the original substance of the created earth. The scrap of writing, the potsherd that predates everything known, the mummified remains revealing evidence of a culture long gone, the classic novel, the four hundred year old musical score that\u2019s still being played, the work of art that takes one\u2019s breath away, the artificial hip replacement, the medicine that kills the cancer, the technology that sends man out to explore the universe. On the other hand, us humans, we come, we go. Only a few of us make a mark that is indelible on this world; the rest of us make only a slight impression that soon fades into nothing. That\u2019s what my earth-bound human brain sometimes thinks.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve been looking at the creation instead of The Creator.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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C. S. Lewis knew better. He was thinking with his eternal Heaven-bound brain. He\u2019s telling us that\u00a0we<\/em>\u00a0are the stuff that matters-US. We\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0Eternal- we exist- forever. In order to get my head around that thought I had to consider it from the point of view of science – being a nurse has its drawbacks and its perks. Our DNA has evidence of every ancestor all the way back to the beginning; even if we can\u2019t measure it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The beginning- it all had to start somewhere, somewhen.\u00a0 For those of us who believe the Word, it started with God creating the universe. Just because He could.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Wow.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When I slow down enough to contemplate it thoroughly- I realize that what God chose to create is eternal. No buildings, no cities, no airplanes, no highways or byways. He chose to create life. Star life, planet life, plant life, animal, bird, bug and fish life; and then He created His Masterpiece- man and woman in His image. My brain came to a screeching halt here! Many would say we are the worst link in all of creation. After all, we can be pretty horrific towards our fellow man and beast and the environment of this world thanks to the fall of Adam and Eve and that crafty serpent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We are the next generation of the re-generation of \u201cimmortal horrors or eternal splendours\u201d.\u00a0 Lewis\u2019 second half of this quote reveals that he knows our human nature well and calls our attention to the fact that we live forever.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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FOREVER, people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Let me say it again- FOREVER.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We love, we hate, we are naughty, we are nice, we are mean, we are kind, we are violent, we are gentle, we rejoice, we despair. We share in other\u2019s lives and how we treat each other reveals what we believe. The Creator of the Universe wants us to understand that we were created to-be-HIS. The universe is forever changing, rearranging and regenerating; yet what He set in motion is life and it is His.\u00a0 And that includes us.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And, while our bodies may crumble to dust; our souls, our spirit, that essence of who we are,\u00a0US<\/strong>– we live on forever. Either as immortal horrors or as everlasting splendors. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How do we become \u201ceverlasting splendours\u201d to each other? God gives us the clues all the way through His word.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So God created mankind in his own image,\u00a0in the image of God he created them<\/span>;<\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00a0male and female he created them.\u00a0\u00a0God blessed them and said to them, \u201cBe fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Genesis 1:27-28<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We are created in His image- there\u2019s splendor for you. Do we see the image of God when we look at our neighbor?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,\u00a0but whose delight is in the law of the\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span>Lord<\/span><\/em><\/span>, and who meditates on his law day and night.\u00a0That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season<\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00a0and whose leaf\u00a0does not wither<\/span>\u2014whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1:1-3<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The person who delights in and meditates day and night on His law is like a tree whose leaves do not wither- that\u2019s pretty splendid to me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord\u00a0forever<\/span>. Psalm 23:6<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If goodness and mercy follow me and I have the promise of living in the Lord\u2019s house forever isn\u2019t that splendid? And more so, if we share that promise with others.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures\u00a0forever<\/span>. Psalm 125:1<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When we trust in the Lord we have the promise that we will endure forever. That\u2019s everlasting splendor.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAs for me, this is my covenant with them,\u201d says the LORD. \u201cMy Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will\u00a0always<\/span>\u00a0be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants\u2014from this time on and\u00a0forever<\/span>,\u201d says the LORD. Isaiah 59:21<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Holy Spirit will not leave us and we will speak His words always, as will our children and their decendants \u2013 forever. The trace of spiritual DNA- He\u2019s there in our hearts forever.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span>And His words enable us to recognize that He is with us. Ahh, that\u2019s everlasting splendour.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To some C.S. Lewis\u2019 statement may be simplistic and leave out details that, to them, may be crucial and would prove him wrong. However, to me, he has pared down the issue of life, death, heaven and hell to this one true thought: we will live forever, the question is where? And as what- horror or splendour? \u00a0The choice is ours.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization\u2014these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit\u2014immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.” -CS Lewis\u00a0   Came across this … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":634,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions\/634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}