This is turning into an awesome discussion, in the actual meaning of the term, not the worn-out, “that’s an awesome t-shirt” kind of meaning.
The question was asked: Can we “step up” into eternity, and if so, is it possible to “step down” back into linear time? I’d say so. My own mystical experiences would point to yes. The writings of the saints would point to yes. I cannot speak from a point of utmost certanty on this, as it is only a speculation, but I feel like we are given windows into God’s mind, into God’s experience, God’s sight. It’s like being a fish, swimming in the water (the water being linear time), and then coming up for air, and seeing all of time laid out for you, on the surface of the water. But you’re a fish, and eventually you have to go back down and catch your breath.
There is, however, that implication, that if one has the ability to enter eternity, that one would, by the very definition of the condition, understand that one had always been there, in some way. Who am I to know, though. I’m just a guy who has been blessed by God with little moments of bliss. I’m not going to pretend I’ve got answers to the big questions, I just love talking about them!
It was mentioned this idea of “touring heaven.” I firmly believe this old adage should be rejected. "A guy goes to heaven, and St. Peter takes him on a tour of the rooms… " goes the old joke. That’s so inaccurate a picture of Heaven as to be as useful as believing that looking at a photograph of a grape is just as good as consuming the Precious Blood. True, Our Lord did say “in my Father’s house, there are many rooms.” But this should be taken to mean that there is “space for all” or perhaps, as someone speculated, that for God, linear time is like an artist looking at the panels of a comic book, and perhaps these are the “rooms” of which our lord spoke. Perhaps this analogy is better than imagined. Perhaps, from the perspective of eternity, linear time actually is a series of consecutive still frames.
In the Paradiso, Dante (whom I sincerely believe to be a true mystic), illustrated the state of being in heaven as the holy souls being a flower, where each soul is a petal (or each petal is a throne for one soul). The Hosts of Heaven are like the rays of the sun, carrying down the sun’s warmth to the flower. God is the sun, which projects His warmth, and offers it without ceasing to the flower.
I LOVE that image of being consumed by God. The very act of the chewing could be seen as the state of purgatory.
I’m uncomfortable with the idea of two judgments, as it implies change"ness" in a changeless state. Much more easily contemplated for me, is the idea that at the moment of death, if we are ready, we are dropped down at the moment of the FInal judgement… Perhaps the entering of eternity IS the judgement of which we speak. Therfore, even if there is, technically, two judgements, they happen at the same moment, the “last” moment, as it were, before entering timelessness. This implies that such questions are ones of perception rather than actuality. My own readings on Hell seem to point to the idea that WE choose Hell rather than God choosing it for us, or condemning us TO it. Perhaps the difference between the person in Hell and the person in Purgatory is simply a change of orientation. The evil that is in us cannot exist in the presence of God. If, when we die, we are exposed to that presence of pure good, and it is like being in a spaceship, tumbling towards the sun. There is pain and burning, and we have the choice of being liberated from the evil, turning on our engines and pressing forward at greater speeds. This is Purgatory. If, however, we reject God and turn on our retro rockets and attempt to escape the gravity of the burning ball of pure Goodness, we will perpetually be tortured by that burning flame behind us.
This, it seems, goes against what I was saying that death takes us immediately into timelessness… But perhaps it is that our last moments of experiencing time are shmeared out over a percieved period, while that which is inside of us and is unworthy of being in God’s presence is purged from our souls. Who knows. I guess that still doesn’t work well in the context of my experience of the mystic state, but that’s why they call these The Mysteries, I guess.
