The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.

John Locke. Second Treatise of Government. 1690.

 

 

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49 27 76 65 20 62 65 65 6e 20 77 61 74 63 68 69 6e 67 20 79 6f 75 72 20 6b 69 6e 64 6e 65 73 73 20 6b 65 65 70
41 20 6c 6f 6e 65 6c 79 20 63 6f 6d 70 61 6e 79
42 65 67 69 6e 20 61 67 61 69 6e
42 65 67 69 6e 20 61 67 61 69 6e

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There is no need to be worried by facetious people who try to make the Christian hope of 'Heaven' ridiculous by saying that they do not want 'to spend eternity playing harps'. The answer to such people is that if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups, they should not talk about them. All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold, etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolical attempt to express the inexpressible. Musical instruments are mentioned because for many people (not all) music is the thing known in the present life which most strongly suggests ecstasy and infinity. Crowns are mentioned to suggest the fact that those who are united with God in eternity share His splendour and power and joy. Gold is mentioned to suggest the timelessness of Heaven (gold does not rust) and the preciousness of it. People who take these symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, He meant that we were to lay eggs.

C.S. Lewis. Mere Christianity. 1952. 

 War is father of all, and king of all. He renders some gods, others men; he makes some slaves, others free.

Heraclitus of Ephesus. Fragments. 500 BCE. 

 

FROM: DAD

THERE WAS FAR TOO LITTLE TIME LEFT AFTER YOU WERE BORN. I WONDER HOW MUCH LOVE I WAS ABLE TO SHOW AFTER YOUR MOTHER PASSED… SEEING YOU CHEERFUL AND WELL GAVE YOUR OLD MAN COURAGE.

IT REALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF WE COULD HAVE GONE TOGETHER, BUT I COULDN’T MAKE IT WORK. I THOUGHT I WANTED YOU TO FORGET EVERYTHING AND GO FORWARD…KNOWING YOU, YOU’LL BE OKAY. YOU’LL REALIZE YOUR LONELINESS, AND SURELY REMEMBER ME.

I BELIEVE THAT YOU’LL GROW STRONG AND READ THIS LETTER. I WISH WE COULD HAVE MADE MORE MEMORIES TOGETHER. I’M SORRY. WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WELL, BUT NOW YOU SHOULD.

I’LL SAY THE WORDS FROM THAT DAY ONCE MORE.

Yes, but what do we mean when we talk of God helping us? We mean God putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak. He lends us a little of His reasoning powers and that is how we think: He puts a little of His love into us and that is how we love one another. When you teach a child writing, you hold its hand while it forms the letters: that is, it forms the letters because you are forming them. We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand when we do it.

C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity. 1952.