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That it may please thee to grant to all the faithful departed eternal life and peace, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. That it may please thee to grant that, in the fellowship of my local Church and brothers and sisters in Christ, and all the saints, we may attain to thy heavenly kingdom, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
1 John 11:25-26 (The Message)“You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?”
As we near the end of these prayers from The Great Litany we are called to reflect on that age-old question, “What happens after we die ,” or ask that nagging question you see posted on fading signs on the by-ways of rural America: “Where will you spend eternity ?” These are serious questions, but they are not quite asking the right question, for they presume that “eternity” begins upon our death. You need to understand that your “eternity” begins the moment your life is conceived and is part and parcel of every breath you take on this earth. The real question is “How is your ‘eternity’ going, here and now?”
Our life-eternal, our attainment to God’s Heavenly Kingdom begins here and now, tomorrow, next week, next year and continues beyond where time is even counted. When you walk with Jesus, you are walking in eternity, and your relationship with Him is sealed for all your yesterdays, todays and tomorrows. The real purpose of our prayer is that God would remind us of this every moment. How different would my faith be, how different would my perspective be of this earthly life if I was aware that I am living in eternity this very moment ?
Our faith in Christ is not a spiritual deposit in some eternal retirement account; it is not to be stored up in a spiritual certificate of deposit to be cashed in at the pearly gates. In short, it is not fire insurance that you store in your soul’s safety deposit box. Trust and obey Jesus today, for this day contains all of eternity, and you participate in eternal life with every step you take with the Lord.
This may sound ethereal, mystical or otherworldly, and it is. In Christ you belong to another kingdom, another reality and another world, a new heaven and a new earth. Your life here and now is both a part of that and a journey home. I pray we remember Who we belong to and Where we are going – all the way Home.
Peace. Phil Parsons
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From Rodger:
One line Phil wrote above needs to be restated – and maybe restated again after that!
Our faith in Christ is not a spiritual deposit in some eternal retirement account; it is not to be stored up in a spiritual certificate of deposit to be cashed in at the pearly gates. In short, it is not fire insurance that you store in your soul’s safety deposit box.
Reading that I immediately thought of my friend and mentor Tony Campolo, who died last November. (Probably not having once worried about where he would spend eternity! Tony liked to say that he would meet God the Father some day and Jesus would introduce him, “Here’s my friend Tony, that I invited here… and HE IS PERFECT! (Especially so, since my forgiveness made him that way!)”
Tony liked to talk about back when mission statements were all the rage in churches. And he turned that thought around: “If Jesus were to show up today, and you asked him what his mission statement was, what would he say? He would say what he always said – and that didn’t mention Heaven a single time. He would say ‘I have come to announce that the Kingdom of God is at hand.’ Here… Now… It’s not pie in the sky after you die people! It’s about what you do, or don’t do, for Jesus now.”
We should remember that God doesn’t view or experience time the way we do. For God there is no past, there is no future. There is only the one “Eternal Now,” and that is eternal life. Both quantity beyond our capacity to measure or understand; AND quality beyond our wildest dreams of perfection. Eternal life is now, not then. So why aren’t we living like that’s true?