My Struggles, and Then I Fly Away (Prelude)

My Struggles, and Then I Fly Away

David Richardson

Prelude The second law of thermodynamics suggests that life cycles of all God’s creations have grand entrances and undesirable exits. The pathways traveled during life cycles are spontaneous, and their spontaneity is based on randomness. All beings that live beneath the clouds and depend on oxygen to sustain their existence will have random beginnings and random ends.

The beginning is embraced.

The end is undesirable.

Human life cycles are replete with chaos and disorder whether constrained to traveling beneath earth’s atmosphere or traversing pathways to the stars.

Contrary to some traditional philosophical beliefs, there are no second chances when the human life cycle ends. You cannot be reformed from the dust to be a better human being or reformed from the dust to be a lesser life form. The roads we travel are unidirectional; therefore, irreversible. There are no mechanisms to return once the life cycle ends.

That means specific life

experiences cannot be repeated. We can learn, however, from our 2

experiences. When a similar experience occurs, we can elect to take a different path.

Contrary to Hollywood, science fiction writers, or other timetravel theorists, there is no participatory pathway to the past. It is impossible to create a machine that will allow people to travel back in time and actually participate in an event with the possibility of altering the smallest or largest detail of the event. However, some innovative engineer or scientist may be able to create a time device that would allow people to observe the past as if viewing a hologram. People in the past would not be aware of the observer, and the observer cannot participate in or alter past events. The time traveler will only be able to observe the past without having any ability to speak with or associate with characters in the past.

Of course, that would be a tremendous invention! For the first time in history, we would be able to observe an actual event without the distorted reports of alleged eyewitnesses. It would be an amazing opportunity to see, holographically, the parting of Yam Suph by the breath of God. It would be a heart-stopping event to see the Israelites trapped on the shore of Yum Suph beside Pihahiroth before Baalzephon. It would be an amazing experience to see a holographic image of God in the form of a cyclonic pillar, perpetually dark on the Egyptians’ side and perpetually light on 3

the Israelites’ side, holding the Egyptians at bay. It would be an incredible opportunity to see the bifurcated spinning pillar vibrantly flaring throughout the night. Suddenly, on the Israelites’ side, a strong east wind formed by His breath blows throughout the night to divide Yum Suph. I can imagine the unbelief of the Egyptians as they see Yum Suph parted to produce a visible path dividing it into two parts- north Yum Suph on the left and south Yum Suph on the right. What a faith enhancing experience that would be to see the truth through the reality of holographic time travel - where there is only observation and no participation.

The directions and actions we take are like rapid moving currents in the stream of time. There is no pathway back to the past once we have physically traveled a specific road. Also, there are no mystical pathways into the future. Time is unidirectional, and our only recourse for omission or commission transgressions is to seek forgiveness from God and from those we have wronged.

Trees have life cycles; plants and flowers have life cycles; the oceans, seas, and lakes have life cycles; mountains, hills, and valleys have life cycles; and human beings have life cycles. All earthly animate and inanimate objects have life cycles, and those life cycles are interconnected. Consequently, we need to cautiously and carefully make decisions that impact the pathways traveled during our sojourn on this spiritually rebellious planet.

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A few decades ago, it was my turn for heaven to produce something from nothing.

The sperm mated with the egg.

Heterogametic sex occurred!

There was an XY chromosome combination.

Bang!

Cell multiplication occurred.

Nine months of gestation led to my unfathomable entrance.

You see, I had no say in the matter, and there was a considerable mystery surrounding my birth. I am still unable to fully explore or comprehend its mystery since the key participants are deceased.

I was born in the midst of global chaos. The second worldwide conflict was devastating to the planet.

I was born two years and a few days after the infamous day when 2,403 people including 68 civilians lost their lives on land and sea at Pearl Harbor (Hawaii). This catapulted the United States into a 5

second major conflict of destruction, disorder, chaos, and devastation.

During those trying times, God promised that “… [my] days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if …[my] strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and… [then I] fly away (Psalm 90:10 NIV).” God has graciously allowed my days to exceed His promise. I have surpassed the designated timeline, and I am grateful for His love, patience, kindness, and tolerance. Nevertheless, those days were like the passing wind…they have flown by with rapidity, and though they were relatively short, they have been filled with miracles, accomplishments, disappointments, failures, successes, sadness, and happiness – they were “the best of times and they were the worst of times”.

Many would say, “God has given you a long life,” and they are right!

Though I cannot complain about the time God has given me, it has been only a micro-moment recorded by the cosmic clock.

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I have spent an infinitesimally small fraction of time on earth as a vibrant organism.

The carbon-based substance that constitutes the mass of my frame is very small compared to the mass of God’s cosmos.

My limited existence is spatially insignificant, yet God sees me as occupying an important place and assuming an important role in His vast universe!

Only a fraction of the approximately eight billion people living on planet earth will care about, remember, or even recognize the finite time I spent here. My transitory existence is just a tiny spark among the sixteen billion carbon-based organic entities residing on a cosmic sphere that floats, by divine design, on the fabric of space. The fact that I exist in an infinite universe is a testimony to the Intelligent Designer; therefore, I am certain that there is a Higher Reality - and that Reality is the Triune God. My reality is that no matter how insignificant I may have felt, or others may have thought I was, the ultimate Reality tracked every minute detail of my physical, mental, intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual successes and failures. Not me only, but 7

every human being that was, is, and will be.

“

Are not five

sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

But even the very hairs of your head are all

numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows (Luke 12: 6 and 7).�

It is encouraging to know that God has paid particular attention to every detail of my life and your life. God told Jeremiah that He knew him before he was born, and that He had set him apart by destining him to be a prophet (Jeremiah 1:5). He has made the same proclamation about me and you. He knew every human being before he or she was born. We will fly away with the certainty that He knew us, like He knew Jeremiah, before we were conceived in our mothers’ wombs. This makes us special in our vast universe.

Though there is constant uncertainty hovering

above us, Certainty promised that our finite and corruptible bodies will be transformed into immortal and incorruptible bodies.

That Certainty uniquely belongs to and describes the

unlimited powers of our omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God

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We were created in God’s image. The image of His personality, and His personality is exhibited through the powerful descriptors the Bible uses to designate His character.

1 John 4:8 says that God is love.

1 Peter 1:3 says that God is merciful.

Isaiah 40:11 says that God is gentle.

2 Chronicles 30:18 says that God is good.

Psalm 145:17 says that God is righteous.

Psalm 18:20 says that God is perfect.

1 John 1:9 says that God is just.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God is faithful.

Psalm 116:5 says that God is gracious.

Since we are reflections of God’s image, we have the opportunity to emulate His character. We are born in sin and shaped in iniquity (Psalm 51:5).

Our perfection, any justice, any faith, our

righteousness, our goodness, our love, and our mercy come through accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.

It is through Christ’s perfection that we become perfect.

It is through Christ’s justice that we become just.

It is through Christ’s faith that we become faithful.

It is through Christ’s righteousness that we become righteous.

It is through Christ’s goodness that we become good.

It is through Christ’s mercy that we become merciful.

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It is through Christ’s love that we can love.

Our short lives are micro reflections of the mega image of He who interrupted eternity to give us a second chance at eternity. He is the one who will keep us from the first death, and then we will fly away. When God sees me, he actually sees His son. When God sees me, He sees His son. Portions of Albert Simpson's song Not I, but Christ (1891) demonstrate the significance of the axiom that the "I" in me diminishes and the Christ in me exalts at the moment of self-surrender.

Not I, but Christ, in every look and action; Not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tear; Not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden; Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear.

Christ, only Christ—no show, no ostentation; Saved from my sin and myself, dear Lord, Saved to be filled with Thee” My mother gave birth to me in pain, and pain, at so many levels, is associated with death.

Those left behind feel the pain of death.

Those who retreat to the earth experience the pain of death.

And Jesus feels their pain.

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There is no escape from death. Paul said in Hebrews 9:27 that there is a time appointed for all to die, and at that appointed time, I will face the judgment. When I was born, someone severed the cord that connected me to my mother. Wow, what a large cord it was! It was a three-quarter-inch diameter cord.

The umbilical cord transferred vital nutrients from my mother to me. Though the circumstances of my birth were suspicious, God watched over me during the gestation period. He connected me to my mother’s love, and when I exited the womb and entered the light of day, someone severed the umbilical cord.

Then, I

connected to that spiritual cord that supplies me with God’s vital nutrients-nutrients made with unconditional love, unlimited hope, and immeasurable grace.

God ignited a spark that initiated my life, and then I took my first breath. According to David in Ecclesiastes, when I take my last breath, my spirit will return to God.

According to Paul in 1

Thessalonians 4:16 and 17, I will wait on Jesus Christ to "descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and then the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with 11

Christ in the clouds, to meet Him in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord".

At that time, I will fly away.

I will fly away to a place where Jesus dwells, and you will too.

All the faithful will fly away to a place where Jesus dwells.

The words of Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch’s I’ll Fly Away beautifully describe our final destination.

“Some bright morning when this life is over I'll fly away To that home on God's celestial shore I'll fly away”

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