A Cemetery at Sunset and Thoughts about Eternity

It's a beautiful spring Saturday evening, and I am not spending it in social pursuits. Sometimes I just need to take a breather, get some space, and be reminded that I'm a human again, not some freakish machine that is somewhat similar to the energizer bunny.

So I took a nap, then went for a walk in the Dunmore Cemetery, which oddly enough is one of my favorite places right now. It's so peaceful and beautiful. My thoughts have space there, not to mention that it's hard to forget eternity when surrounded by countless graves and aging trees. Today I discovered that the Dunmore Cemetery is in full glory just before sunset; it's something about the way the valley is shaped and how the light hits everything at that time. It set me to thinking about the bodies that were buried there, and that they have seen their sunset. But the sun sets with a promise of rising again. Some of the bodies, though they have decayed, will see their sunrise and be renewed. Glory be to God who has prepared us for this, and to Christ who is the the firstfruit of the resurrection, and to the Spirit who is our guarantee.

"For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."
(2Cor 5:1-10)

Thinking of eternity is dangerous. it makes me have to evaluate my current path and way of living. What a nuisance. ;) What a Godsend. A few verses later Paul says that the love of Christ is what controls us, and that we do not live for ourselves, but for Him who for our sake died and was raised. Let that sink in.

"Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others." I will try to take this statement as it is, and not allow guilt to weigh me down for my habitual passivity. I will claim God's promise as true that I am a new creation, and that He can work the changes necessary in me, and that He can work powerfully through me, in spite of me.

Wow. All this because God allowed me some time to get away, and to be at the right place at the right time. He is awesome.