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2013 PJ Stassen
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Magnificently
unprepared
For the long
littleness of life (of Rupert Brooke)
- Frances Cornford, b.1886.
Will I ever forget the memorable funeral
where a bereaved member of the next-of-kin recalled a vivid dream of an
encounter with an earlier deceased soon after his death? The deceased was standing, chaperoned by Heavenly
beings, in ‘Heaven’, and from a distance had called to his friend (still on ‘Earth’):
“Go tell them … it is all true! It's all true!”
Will I ever forget the funeral where a son,
himself dying from cancer in hospital and too ill to attend his father’s
funeral, had seen his dear deceased father in a vision standing on the banks of
that Heavenly Jordan and exclaiming: ”It
is exquisite!” It is exquisite!” That dying son himself passed away about
two weeks later.
Will I ever forget the magnificence of my own
dream of Heaven, with a panorama so enchanting that it not only took my breath
away, but caused me to stagger, with a loud exclamation of astonishment and surprise, violently backward in my tracks? I can still
vividly recall the splendid scenery, the superb view and the pure mountain air, so reminiscent of picture-postcard Austria, or even our own rural Mpumulanga (the old Eastern Transvaal), resplendent in rain and mist and with the golden rays of the sun breaking through the heavily overcast clouds to cast its glow on the distant valleys below.
. I never actually saw anyone in the dream, but the ecstatic voices of the multitudes engaged in 'work' or rather, 'activities', in those many beautifully manicured orchards, grain fields and vineyards told this one great story: There is no depression or sadness in Heaven … it is a place of rapturous and jubilant joy. The most remarkable geographic feature, over and above the beauty of the place, was that I could discern no horizon … the landscape just seemed to go on and on ad infinitum.
Now, I am not so psychologically illiterate not to know that this dream may well have been the fruit of my probably very fertile brain; after all, the creative mind of man can conjure up much magic during the night and sometimes produce some of the most terrifying, exciting, fearsome, glorious, diabolical and phantasmagorical of adventures and plots.
I am enclined to say with C.S. Lewis, however, that if this Universe had had no meaning, we would not have known that it had no meaning, and the very fact that this Universe sometimes transmits such wonderful, magnificent 'meaning' to our troubled minds (in the shape of beautiful and enchanting dreams) may be exactly because the Universe has meaning. These beautiful dreams, although often chalked up by the rational technocrat and secular psychologist (and even ourselves) as probably pure 'wishful thinking', may just as well be a prelude to the great Heavenly beauties to come, or, as the Apostle Paul has written, a shadow of future glories to expect.
The fact is: We know that the Universe has meaning because it has meaning ... if it had had no meaning we would not have known that it had no meaning.
. I never actually saw anyone in the dream, but the ecstatic voices of the multitudes engaged in 'work' or rather, 'activities', in those many beautifully manicured orchards, grain fields and vineyards told this one great story: There is no depression or sadness in Heaven … it is a place of rapturous and jubilant joy. The most remarkable geographic feature, over and above the beauty of the place, was that I could discern no horizon … the landscape just seemed to go on and on ad infinitum.
Now, I am not so psychologically illiterate not to know that this dream may well have been the fruit of my probably very fertile brain; after all, the creative mind of man can conjure up much magic during the night and sometimes produce some of the most terrifying, exciting, fearsome, glorious, diabolical and phantasmagorical of adventures and plots.
I am enclined to say with C.S. Lewis, however, that if this Universe had had no meaning, we would not have known that it had no meaning, and the very fact that this Universe sometimes transmits such wonderful, magnificent 'meaning' to our troubled minds (in the shape of beautiful and enchanting dreams) may be exactly because the Universe has meaning. These beautiful dreams, although often chalked up by the rational technocrat and secular psychologist (and even ourselves) as probably pure 'wishful thinking', may just as well be a prelude to the great Heavenly beauties to come, or, as the Apostle Paul has written, a shadow of future glories to expect.
The fact is: We know that the Universe has meaning because it has meaning ... if it had had no meaning we would not have known that it had no meaning.
(Samuel Stennett, 1727-1795/American melody,
Adapted by Rigdon M. McTosh, 1836-1899)
On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.
All o’er those wide extended plains
Shines one eternal day;
There God the Son forever reigns
And scatters night away.
No chilling winds nor pois’nous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death
Are felt and fear no more.
When shall I reach that happy place
And be forever blest?
When shall I see my Father’s face
And in His bosom rest?
CHORUS
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land
O who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
Piet Stassen
eLiterature/eLiteratuur:
- Scribd Publishing Site: www.scribd.com/PietStassen (ENGLISH & AFRIKAANS)
- eBook: 'Evolution: The Science That Evolved Into A Fairy Tale' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Bertrand Russell Revisited: Rebuttal Of Bertrand Russell's 'Why I Am Not A Christian''(ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Meditations & Contemplations: A Reader For Both Atheists And Creationists' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Conservation, Rhino Poaching And Hypocrisy' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Why Darwinism ('Evolution') Does Not Make Sense' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Names And Titles Of Jesus Of Nazareth (ENGLISH)'
- eBoek: 'Darwin Of Christus: Suid-Afrikaners By 'n Kruispad!' [AFRIKAANS].
- eBoek: 'Bevryding Van Die Anti-Evangelie Van Ateisme-Evolusionisme' [AFRIKAANS].
- eBoek: 'Name & Titels Van Jesus Christus' [AFRIKAANS].
- eTracts, Christian (Free, Downloadable): Free, downloadable Christian eTracts for free distribution (ENGLISH)
- eTraktate, Christelik (Gratis, Aflaaibaar): Gratis, aflaaibabre Christelike Traktate vir gratis verspreiding (AFRIKAANS)
Bibliography
1.
Andrews, Allen (1969) Quotations For Speakers And Writers. Newnes Books. Hamlyn
Publishing Group Ltd. London.
2.
Peterson, John V. (1968) Great Hymns Of The Faith. ‘On Jordan’s Stormy Banks’. Singspiration
Inc. Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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