There are two worlds going, and probably always have been. There’s the physical world and a lesser-known Spiritual world. When I say lesser known, I of course am referring to the spiritual world as it is hardly regarded by the unbeliever.

There’s a lot of moisture outside this October morning. It comes from the dew as we are running a rain deficit, but nevertheless it would be difficult to get a fire started out there, so there’s a blessing of sorts, although later in the day things will dry out again. The big old oak trees are standing with fading greenery, looking at each other wondering when October is actually going to get started. Even with this late summer, there’s a quiet morning chill out in the damp air, but the solitude is refreshing, invigorating. The blue jays have already started to infiltrate this part of the Ozarks as juniper berries (actually tiny cones) once more begin to ripen. My daughter’s big old sunflowers have opened kiosks around her house for goldfinches to dine for another season.

I planted cucumbers a second time in August because the first ones got some kind of blight and did not produce much. These new ones are starting to put on lots of blossoms and some baby pickles are starting to show. The physical world in which we live steadily goes forward in spite of man’s efforts to destroy it, and that is how it should be – not that last part about how we foul our nest, but that the world itself has a great propensity for adaptation and survival. Autumn is, nevertheless, starting to run overdue, and if you are a long-time reader of folkpotpourri, you’ll know autumn is my favorite season.

Skies of clearest azure wake up to late sunrises and songbirds go about their routines, some bail out to southern places, but by and large most of them begin to hang out around the overgrown weeded pastures checking for seeds and berries. This is the physical world at its finest, and I feel sorry for city folk – those stuck in great sprawling metropolises who hardly get the opportunity to realize what God’s creation is all about. That’s where the Spiritual world comes to mind.

Probably one of the things we know the least about is infinity. The human brain has a limited capacity for knowledge and understanding. If you were on the beach with a bucket in your hand you could scoop up a bucket of water, but there’s an ocean full of water still out there and your tiny bucket only has the capacity to hold that one bucketful, like your brain after it’s full of all the knowledge it can hold. But there’s so much more out there to know!

If one were to allow their mind to wander, considering the things we know, or at least think we know, about the creation in which we exist, there are supposed to be something like 90 billion light years worth of universe – physical universe – out there packed with trillions of stars. That’s just the part we can observe, who knows how much more there is? Scientists speculate that many – if not most – stars herd planetary systems that might be similar to the solar system. I wonder how many of those worlds harbor spectacular scenery, giant mountains, waterfalls, expansive forests, and such. I like to think that after our time here, we might be free to wander about, find worlds that would be weird, wild, and impressive. Something else to consider is the fact that as Spiritual beings, we most likely won’t be restricted to places with oxygen and mild temperatures, so we’d likely do just fine in places like Jupiter or Venus. What kinds of animals and birds might be lurking out there? Would the Creator allow His faithful to explore such wonders in the great by and by? Do these kinds of things exist in the Spiritual world, and if so, where are the boundaries between physical and Spiritual? Are there infinite universes where we could spend eternity in fascination of physical and/or Spiritual places and would the boundaries between them become a blur that would make it impossible to discern if they are Spiritual universes or physical? Would things like that even matter in the afterlife?

You see, the apostle Paul said [1 Corinthians 2:9]: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Now that verse opens up a whole slew of possibilities for what Heaven might be like. It says in effect that we cannot imagine what we’ll inherit in God’s Spiritual kingdom. Think about that for a minute – nothing has entered into the mind of any human being at any time that could describe the immensity, the joy of Heaven, and we have a chance to be there! If I were an unbeliever and had the option of that kind of reward in exchange for becoming a child of God, I’d take that chance. In fact, that’s exactly what I have done! But we also have the added bonus of sharing that paradise with our precious Lord Jesus who loves us infinitely. After all, you have to consider that we are all going to pass on from this world anyway, so why not?

For the here and now, my kids and I have this neck of the Ozarks – a blessing in itself to behold. We don’t have, nor do we desire a lot of money and the headaches that come with it. I do not envy folks with wealth – I’ve had the opportunity to become fairly well-off, but I walked away from it and never looked back because God gave me the good sense and the discernment to see and understand what riches do to people. They grow cold and forego any meaningful relationships with the Father or their fellow men. Typically, they and their own families and friends become mired in the lusts of the world to the extent that they could never understand the joy of watching an indigo bunting on the pasture fence on an early summer morning or catching a glimpse of turkeys marching among the chestnut oaks looking for those prized little acorns. God didn’t bless folks who put money ahead of Him (and everything else), even though what they see as their existence is not a blessing at all, but a superficial facade of a meaningful life. But most tragically for them, they have no hope for the afterlife – the present life they have is all they want and sadly, it and the memory of it is all they’ll ever have.

The Spiritual world we believers look forward to has unimaginable promise, from Jesus Christ, our beloved Savior who went through an incredibly painful, horrific and humiliating experience so we could be rid of – and forgiven for – our unwise choices back when we misbehaved so egregiously. From the way the Bible describes the events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion I truly believe God the Father had His mighty hand on the big red button and was probably close to ending everything then and there, but only because of the love His Son had in His heart for you and me, His willingness to continue through His mighty sacrifice, God allowed the thing to proceed. Now something to consider: We are told that a day is as a thousand years with Jesus and a thousand years is as a day, so by the Heavenly calendar, it might be to God like His Son just died a few days ago and maybe He hasn’t gotten over the grief of it all yet. His anger at those who reject the wonderful offer Jesus makes by His sacrifice is likely still burning with a fire that will destroy and consume the very humans who turned Him down, instead they do evil things like even worshipping the antiChrist and accepting the mark of the beast. [Revelation 14:9-11]: “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” His mighty hand is still on that button, folks, and when He cuts loose with His vengeance on those who: a) by sinning caused His Son to have to die on that cross, b) rejected His precious offer to be redeemed from those sins, thus making that sacrifice of no benefit to themselves. I do not want to partake in that beverage, folks!

There’s definitely another existence to be had after this one, a Spiritual Paradise to which we will ascend that will be so glorious and magnificent as to make us forget that other place where the mighty and the rich (and all those who followed after them) have ended up. There will be no hope for them anymore, so do not be counted among them. Enjoy as best you can what we have left of this world God created for us. Evil men are destroying it inexorably and rapidly for whatever wealth they can extract from it, and we won’t have it much longer, but fear not – Jesus will return and lead us into another, vastly more elaborate and precious place where He has built mansions for each of us. Do not despair nor fear the servants of Satan who are for a while in charge of things – their time is almost over. Pity them and pray for them – God can still work in their lives and some may yet come to salvation.

Meanwhile, in this world we need to make the best we can of things, pray incessantly and enjoy the fleeting time here under the gilded hickory boughs. Enjoy the blue jays. Pray for our brothers in cities who don’t have such joys. Pray for the persecuted in places like Gaza and Nigeria. Pray for our entry soon into God’s eternal Spiritual world.

May the blessings f the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK