9th September

I have a dream… of a new world, a place to live in peace. Perfect peace. And completely safe with no possibility of intentional harm or hurt from anyone or anything. Maybe a few scrapes and bruises for the more adventurous days, but that’s allowed, though certainly no more ill health. And I’ll be young and strong again; middle age for me will become a thing of the past… though some might say I’ve never really grown up anyway. Work will be a pleasure and I’ll be able to do exactly the type of work that suits me. I expect to enjoy it so much I’ll be quite exhausted needing a good sit down to recover each evening… though not for too long as there’s a life to be lived.  Perhaps with a few lessons I could really become skilled as a musician, and with voice training the singer song-writer route sounds right up my street. But I’m not sure I want to live on a street again. Farm life sounds good, so maybe I should spend my working hours growing exotic foods, or flowers. And I quite fancy a shed filled with development technology. A place to experiment creatively with new ideas… let the inner engineering scientist out as it were. How about reinventing the wheel? Or pollution free transport? A garden with a babbling brook and sculptures and flowers and birds and a view across open countryside having hills within easy walking distance. And a special garden room for writing my latest work of fiction…

And I love the smell of hay so maybe folk music with country dancing would be fun in the barn. It could be sound proofed for my heavy rock days. Of course there would be friends of like mind to enjoy making music, creating theatre and works of art unrestricted by established convention. Let’s live outside of any box. Maybe story telling could be resurrected… I don’t imagine having much use for a telly. Though others might and I love to rise to the challenge of solving the occasional computer game. After a swim across the nearby lake we could return for badminton in the barn. Our neighbour would then happily share the wine he produces from his extensive vineyard, whilst we plan our next travel adventure photographing sea eagles in the north of Scotland.

I have a lovely vision of Jane and me eating out at a seriously posh restaurant. We’ll be wearing our best bib and tucker and I’ll tell the story of how my life has been since she left me. It’ll be a wonderful story of hope fulfilled, of joy made new and a life well worth living. Then I’ll hear the sound of heaven in her voice once again as she shares something of the treasures that still await me. And there’ll be a guy playing violin coming to play at our table. I’ll stand to take Jane by the hand and we’ll hold each other close in a slow dance that may last for all eternity...

Revelation 21:1-7 ‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.’ (NLT)