I as a geologist take special offense at the statement in the second to last panel that there arn't rocks in heven. Just in case anyone is not familiar with this passage it is worth quoting Revelation 21:
"15 The angel* who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles;* its length and width and height are equal. 17He also measured its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits* by human measurement, which the angel was using. 18The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. 19The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth cornelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass. "
This passage, for me as a geologist (and a person who takes his role as a steward of creation very seriously), is incredibly compelling, as it goes on to describe the river of life flowing from the throne of the lamb, watering a garden filled with the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. I see the beauty of the created realm nourishing the souls of those in heaven. (I'm not sure whether the passage addresses the question of inherent value in these physical objects)
It is interesting how the set of signs from the (fundamentalist) Presbyterian church reveal a very strong attachment to gnostic heresy insisting that matter has no place in "heaven. " This heaven I, personally believe to be an image of the perfect creation. Creation, inherently, is of substance. My wife notes that CS Lewis suggests that often we think of the spiritual as being sub-natural when, in fact, it is of greater substance making the natural the shadow of the supernatural.
I am reminded of Andrew West's (a biologist with YWAM at University of the Nations Kona) perspective of the task of a Christian scientist to explore the creation like a little boy who has been given a toy that was lovingly crafted by his father.
"Daddy, the wheals turn"
"yes, did you notice the doors?"
"Oh, they open!"
... as the father delights in watching his child learn just how much effort went into creating the toy for the boy to enjoy.
Intricacy in nature is a gift to us from God. I look forward to getting to explore the "super-natural" landscape that includes spectacular assemblages of gems into which cities are carved... :).
PS if anyone is interested, you can find a bible study I wrote on this passage on the Sustainable Spirituality Wiki Site
3 comments:
ps
The sign war must, unfortunately, be taken as a humor piece. I don't think it actually happened, as someone else on the list serve I got it from just pointed out http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/ :).
PPS have some fun with the sign generator, and if you come up with anything clever, send it to me and I'll post it.
~Andrew
My two current favorites are:
"Your child may be an honor student, but you're still an idiot," and "Outsource Congress."
Fake or not, I laughed really hard at that.
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