Finishing Book 2

Been reading a lot- can’t put down the McLaren trilogy. I have been so entrenched with the McLaren trilogy (am currently beginning book 3) that I have not been able to put it down. I finished book two over the weekend and was really struck with some of the final thoughts regarding heaven, and the foreshadowing treatment of hell, which book three picks up. Towards the end of book 2, Neo’s perspective concerning what the point of this life is and how that relates to heaven really struck me. MClaren writes “So I can imagine God saying to someone, "well done! You have lived well! You helped the story advance toward my creative dreams. You fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed in the lonely, visited the prisoners, shared your bread with the poor. Wherever you went, you contributed love and peace, generosity and truth, courage and sacrifice, self-control and justice, faithfulness and kindness. You enriched the story, enhanced its beauty and drama and nobility. Your unique, creative contributions will never be forgotten, and even the smallest act of kindness will be eternally celebrated, rewarded. After naming naming and forgiving and forgetting your many faults and failures, I see so much substance to your character, so much to cherish, so much to value, and it will now be set free, given a new beginning in my new creation. You have an eternal place in my story! You have been harvested from this new creation, and now you will enter into the joy of the new creation! (McLaren, The Story We Find Ourselves In, 233). This is certainly different than the perspective of heaven that I am used to, and worth considering.