Threat Assessment .Our cosmic security is what we make of it. One might suppose that people would be glad to discover that our world is a thoroughly spiritual creation. But this does not take into account the suspicious side of human nature. From much sad experience we have learned to look every gift horse in the mouth. I will happily accommodate that natural impulse.
Enter the eschaton. The carrot of discovering the spiritual basis of reality comes equipped with its own stick just in case we are too lethargic to get up and nibble the carrot. And, of course, that is the case. The eschaton will be the measure of our spiritual lethargy. We will not be spared whatever it takes to wake us from the slumber of materialism.
In the end we will be saved not by our virtue but by our circumstances. God knows that when a boat has to be rebuilt in the middle of the ocean, it is best not to rock the boat. Similarly, it should not take much rocking to instill a proper respect for the power of the ocean.
Immaterialism is the only basis for universalism. Dualism of most any sort leads to apocalyptic separations. With immaterialism, everything is of one substance, so salvation is an all or all transformation. To put it crudely, and contrary to popular opinion, we will get to take our toys with us. Mind you, this is not a recommendation for toys, only a statement of fact. Think of our accouterments as so much baggage, baggage that we become increasingly burdensome. Along with our toys there will also be our worst enemies, precisely the ones we were certain would be smitten to smithereens. Such are the burdens of metaphysics. A simple rapture would have been so much easier.
So where is the threat? Come hell or high water, we will still be able to retire on our cosmic security. The only caveat here is how high do we want the water to get. If we want to stay reasonably dry and comfortable, we will definitely have work to do; starting just about right now. It is time to begin our metaphysical homework. It is time to question reality, while maintaining respect for our existing life support system. Continuity is our measure of success.
Our rapidly increasing global economic interdependency is just a harbinger of the spiritual interdependency that lies just around the corner. All the ‘clichés’ about spaceship Earth can hardly prepare us for the shock of the spiritual integration awaiting us. Any prospect of cosmic resegregation lies very far on the other side of our immediate spiritual reintegration. Those who think that they can run to the hills and escape the spirit are succumbing to their own delusions.
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rev. 1/15/99