When it comes to working or creating, I am a planner, a plodder, and too often a procrastinator. As a writer and radio producer with deadlines to meet, I could cut to the chase when necessary, but it wasn’t my preferred way of doing things. What happens, though, when it isn’t an unmet deadline but lives that are at stake? This is the question I’ve wrestled with since starting Anselm’s Quest.
Narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:14 ~ æssmith photo
Mystical experiences often give critical insights into God and his relationships with humans and the rest of Creation, and my own have certainly done so. The key to eternal life is clear to me. It is one that can be reconciled with both theology and science. I had a plan to share it widely, and it went something like this:
First I would write my autobiography to dispel any notion that I was somehow holy or special in any way. I wanted people to know that what happened to me could happen to anyone, and in fact does every day. The book would also put my experiences into context for the use of psychologists, anthropologists, theologians, scientists, philosophers and historians of mysticism, among others. Starting a blog was a complementary project related to the book.
Next I would write a book about the key to eternal life as stated by Jesus and elaborated by the Apostle Paul. This book would delve into theology, the sciences, Scripture, and mystical experiences in history, among other relevant subjects.
Then I would write a series of books exploring different aspects of Christian theology and how these can be changed or viewed differently based on what I have learned and experienced.
This plan of mine has already taken far longer than I ever expected. Each and every day more and more people are at risk of “passing through things temporal in such a way that they lose the things eternal,” far removed from the words they need to hear. It is clear from the Bible that accountability for their lost eternity rests with those who know that message and fail to deliver it.
With that in mind, the key is provided here. It is an old message forgotten by too many. Its words are critical for those whose eternal lives are most threatened. These include:
The rich who are prey to what Jesus called “the deceitfulness of wealth,” which is a measure of spiritual erosion;
the liars and those who twist the truth and the teachings of Jesus to serve their own ends;
the oppressors who victimize others for pleasure or gain; and
the heedless who are so caught up in worries and trivial pastimes that they lose the true meaning of life.
The key to eternal life opens the door not only to the kingdom of heaven, but to every life-giving teaching recorded in the Gospels. The words of Saint Paul help to clarify it, as I hope in a small way mine do also.