"These are they who receive not of his fulness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial;
And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial.
And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them; for they shall be heirs of salvation.
And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding;"
Doctrine and Covenants 76:86-89
This always blows me away. This is a revelation talking about the resurrection and judgment after this life, and explaining the afterlife by comparing the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial kingdoms to the Sun, Moon, and Stars (as Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15:40-41).
It seems cool that there is ministering going on from one kingdom to another, so the whole idea of love and service continues on after this life, which seems pretty cool and appropriate. :) The idea of the differences of the kingdoms is of course not something where God arbitrarily assigns people based on power or prestige, but is something that we choose by our actions and desires in this life.
God assigns us all to a place where we can be happy and comfortable, presumably with people that are like we are. Perhaps like foreign language classes, right? In this life we have the opportunity to learn the language, and some of us are going to learn it really well, and some only so-so, and others not really at all. A couple of words that are also names of food. :) And then at the end of this life, we all move to the country where they speak the language all the time. If we learned the language really, really well, we could speak it and go anywhere and do anything like a native speaker. We could also help people who learned it less well. If we learned the language only so-so, we'll be limited as to the places we can go, or the things we can do, because we just don't know the language well enough to read in it, or to really understand the movies at the theater except on the most basic level. We do have more mobility and understanding than some of the other tourists though, so we can probably go to the market and buy things as well as learn to navigate the public transportation, etc. And we can help the really lost travelers find their way back to the hotel and steer them back to the more touristy shops where there is always someone who speaks English. And if we didn't learn the language except for a few words, we're probably going to need a tourist guide and a lot of help from the patient native speakers, but we can still have a good time in the country, enjoying the food and admiring the scenery. :)
In our analogy, the country is the afterlife, and the language is the gospel. The more we learn here, the better off we are going to be there... not because God loves one group more, but because we have this life to choose whether or not to prepare, and learn, and become citizens of God's country.
Maybe the coolest thing of all about these verses is that even the tourist-guide level of the afterlife is referred to as surpassing all understanding. Even if we don't learn a drop of language, we are *still* going to be wowed by the country and the people and never want to leave. Even the most limited part of heaven is still gloriously heaven, and so much better than this world that we will still know that it is our happy ending. Not that we shouldn't strive for more, of course... but it is a very merciful thing that even a few words will eventually help us to gain refuge there, and make us welcome.
Today, let's work on preparing to move to God's country. Let's study our brochures and maps. Let's prepare for those citizenship tests and help our fellow travelers as well, as we all do our best to learn the language and practice living in such a perfect place.
And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial.
And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them; for they shall be heirs of salvation.
And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding;"
Doctrine and Covenants 76:86-89
This always blows me away. This is a revelation talking about the resurrection and judgment after this life, and explaining the afterlife by comparing the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial kingdoms to the Sun, Moon, and Stars (as Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15:40-41).
It seems cool that there is ministering going on from one kingdom to another, so the whole idea of love and service continues on after this life, which seems pretty cool and appropriate. :) The idea of the differences of the kingdoms is of course not something where God arbitrarily assigns people based on power or prestige, but is something that we choose by our actions and desires in this life.
God assigns us all to a place where we can be happy and comfortable, presumably with people that are like we are. Perhaps like foreign language classes, right? In this life we have the opportunity to learn the language, and some of us are going to learn it really well, and some only so-so, and others not really at all. A couple of words that are also names of food. :) And then at the end of this life, we all move to the country where they speak the language all the time. If we learned the language really, really well, we could speak it and go anywhere and do anything like a native speaker. We could also help people who learned it less well. If we learned the language only so-so, we'll be limited as to the places we can go, or the things we can do, because we just don't know the language well enough to read in it, or to really understand the movies at the theater except on the most basic level. We do have more mobility and understanding than some of the other tourists though, so we can probably go to the market and buy things as well as learn to navigate the public transportation, etc. And we can help the really lost travelers find their way back to the hotel and steer them back to the more touristy shops where there is always someone who speaks English. And if we didn't learn the language except for a few words, we're probably going to need a tourist guide and a lot of help from the patient native speakers, but we can still have a good time in the country, enjoying the food and admiring the scenery. :)
In our analogy, the country is the afterlife, and the language is the gospel. The more we learn here, the better off we are going to be there... not because God loves one group more, but because we have this life to choose whether or not to prepare, and learn, and become citizens of God's country.
Maybe the coolest thing of all about these verses is that even the tourist-guide level of the afterlife is referred to as surpassing all understanding. Even if we don't learn a drop of language, we are *still* going to be wowed by the country and the people and never want to leave. Even the most limited part of heaven is still gloriously heaven, and so much better than this world that we will still know that it is our happy ending. Not that we shouldn't strive for more, of course... but it is a very merciful thing that even a few words will eventually help us to gain refuge there, and make us welcome.
Today, let's work on preparing to move to God's country. Let's study our brochures and maps. Let's prepare for those citizenship tests and help our fellow travelers as well, as we all do our best to learn the language and practice living in such a perfect place.
Good,I go where I Belong my body a deciding factor(my heart and mind).I remember Jesus saying to Nicodemas "the wind blows where it wills".Now my hopes are high.I'm not choosey-but willing. I enjoyed yo post,keep up the missionary work,happy rewards👍👏.Lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comment.
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