Ok, as crazy as this seems. This thread is the result of a dream I just had........
I was sitting in pitch darkness, and then suddenly there was this explosion of light like nothing I've ever even imagined before. I was afraid I would be ripped apart by it at first. Then I turned and looked toward it. I saw the world being formed, and was then hurled further and further out and "away" from the world. I saw the milky way, and watched as it became just another pin point of light in the blackness of space. I was moving at unbelievable speed and further and further out from the centre of the "explosion". Like I was riding on the surface of an expanding bubble. If you have ever seen footage of an underwater explosion you will have an idea of what I was dreaming.
Suddenly my outward momentum stopped. I was literally at the edge of the universe. Nothing created existed beyond this point. All light, all matter was now behind me, and I was looking outward into a darkness that is beyond imagining. A place where the phrase, "nothing exists" is just the beginning. A place where once inside, you could look back, and all of the created universe is less than a pinprick in the distance.
I awoke from this nap soaked in sweat, and very thankful to be opening my eyes.
I've had vivid dreams in the past, but this was like I was there, as crazy as that sounds, given the nature of the dream......
Over the last couple of hours as I've been thinking about it. The term "outer darkness" has been reverberating in my thoughts. If we all exist within God, as it were. Then to be cast out of His presence, is to be cast where exactly? If God is light, then to be without God or his creation (the universe) is to be where? Would that not be hell? We are created to live within the environment that God designed us for. If I was to find myself in a "place" that had no light, no sound, nothing to feel, nothing to smell or taste, but yet had a body that was designed for a world full of sensory stimulation. Wouldn't that be hell? Why are we so hung up on fire? Like God wants to torture us? To simply be separated from the light, after having lived a life, and thrown it away. To live forever in the dark with that "memory" would be fire enough.......
at least that is what the last few hours have made me realize.
All that being said. I thank God every day for the mercy He has bestowed on this weary pilgrim.
Peace to all who follow in the path, of the man, with the nail scars in his hands.
I was sitting in pitch darkness, and then suddenly there was this explosion of light like nothing I've ever even imagined before. I was afraid I would be ripped apart by it at first. Then I turned and looked toward it. I saw the world being formed, and was then hurled further and further out and "away" from the world. I saw the milky way, and watched as it became just another pin point of light in the blackness of space. I was moving at unbelievable speed and further and further out from the centre of the "explosion". Like I was riding on the surface of an expanding bubble. If you have ever seen footage of an underwater explosion you will have an idea of what I was dreaming.
Suddenly my outward momentum stopped. I was literally at the edge of the universe. Nothing created existed beyond this point. All light, all matter was now behind me, and I was looking outward into a darkness that is beyond imagining. A place where the phrase, "nothing exists" is just the beginning. A place where once inside, you could look back, and all of the created universe is less than a pinprick in the distance.
I awoke from this nap soaked in sweat, and very thankful to be opening my eyes.
I've had vivid dreams in the past, but this was like I was there, as crazy as that sounds, given the nature of the dream......
Over the last couple of hours as I've been thinking about it. The term "outer darkness" has been reverberating in my thoughts. If we all exist within God, as it were. Then to be cast out of His presence, is to be cast where exactly? If God is light, then to be without God or his creation (the universe) is to be where? Would that not be hell? We are created to live within the environment that God designed us for. If I was to find myself in a "place" that had no light, no sound, nothing to feel, nothing to smell or taste, but yet had a body that was designed for a world full of sensory stimulation. Wouldn't that be hell? Why are we so hung up on fire? Like God wants to torture us? To simply be separated from the light, after having lived a life, and thrown it away. To live forever in the dark with that "memory" would be fire enough.......
at least that is what the last few hours have made me realize.
All that being said. I thank God every day for the mercy He has bestowed on this weary pilgrim.
Peace to all who follow in the path, of the man, with the nail scars in his hands.