From C. S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain:
The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and pose an obstacle to our return to God; whereas, a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bath, or a football game, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.
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There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.
–C. S. Lewis
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Hebrews 11:13-16 — All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country– a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Revelation 21:3-4 — I heard a loud voice shout from the throne: “God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.”
John 14:6 — Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
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O Lord, support us all the day long of this troubled life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world lies hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.
–Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
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Lord Jesus Christ, you said that you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Help us to not stray from you, for you are the Way;
nor to distrust you, for you are the Truth;
nor to rest on any other than you, as you are the Life.
You have taught us what to believe, what to do, what to hope, and where to take our rest.
Give us grace to follow you, the Way, to learn from you, the Truth, and live in you, the Life.
–Desiderius Erasmus
