Two Phases of Life With God

Photo by Jim Gonia

Prayer: Dear God, open my heart to receive what you want for me. Amen

Life with God has two phases. Life with God on this earth is the penultimate - life before the ultimate - life in the here and now. The closer we grow to God in this life, the more simple the transition into the ultimate life become when we will be securely fixed forever in God’s  presence. Embarking upon a spiritual journey now enables us to make that final move (death) with joyful anticipation rather than with fear and trepidation. This is the radical twist living close to God creates. The closer we grow to God now, the easier the transition becomes, because the life with God now merely expands into the next life. This life and the next life morph into a single life which extends from now to eternity. Thus, today we are already in transition.

Parenthetically, under these distinctive circumstances, absolutely nothing can separate us from God - neither death nor life, nor things to come. We are safe in God’s protective care, in either phase of life. That is ample reason to rejoice.

The awareness of our two phases of life should have a huge bearing on how we go about living this first phase, in which we find ourselves at this time. Each of us will have to discover how this exciting information will affect the manner in which we go about living each day. Pause now and think seriously about that reality.

A life transformed by living close to God has its own present-phase benefits, apart from the promises for the future second phase. A life of gratitude and good will is self-rewarding. A life of service to others makes the world a better place to live for everyone, including the one who renders the service.

 If there were no other benefits, living more intimately with God, in and of itself is a profoundly gratifying and enriching experience, and provides a totally adequate reason to move even closer to God. Thus, living closer to God has benefits and blessings that compound.