A Perspective of Things I

Today, I would like to start with a perspective of ...Eternity. Big word, huh? What's eternity? Forever forever-ness? Never-ending end? Here's one such mental picture to help us grasp it:

"High up in the North, in the land called Svithjod, there stand a rock. It is 100 miles high and 100 miles wide. Once every 1,000 years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak. When the rock has thus been worn away, then a single day of eternity will have gone by".
- Henry Willen Van Loon
(extracted from "A Life Well Spent" by Russ Crosson, Chp 1)

That's the most humanly comprehensible picture I can find, I suppose. It's mind-blowing, isn't it? Anyone wants the job of that poor little bird? Every 1,000 years he will have to fly here & polish like 'siao'. The idea of big rock, small bird, and all the polishing of beak ... and the rock must be worn out, before a day is over is crazy! What a powerful picture. It is going to make "Hi, how's your day?" very very difficult question to reply, you know.

Unless you believe in God, this idea is of no significance value and meaning to you. Once we understand that God is more concerned about the eternal than the temporal, we will, hopefully, begin to face some unique challenges in several areas of our lives, like financial plans, money, family, recreation, work and time. Basically, one word: Choices.

Yes, I am convinced that a glimpse of Eternity not only will help determine our ways of life and choices, not only does it help in our decision making to know what counts and is important (to God), it also helps us to understand where we are going (direction/ focus) and how long we have (urgency).

What really matters to me? What counts? What will make a difference? I have very few idea now but much burden to reflect. But this I know: I have only one life, and it will soon be past. I want to do it right the first time, everytime. I want to live by design, not by default.

Rev. Randy Alcorn is the pastor at Western Baptist Seminary. He wrote in his book, I quote :
"Someday, this upside down world will be turned right side up, and nothing in all eternity will turn it back again. If we are wise, we will spend our brief lives on earth preparing and positioning oursleves for the turn."
(extracted from 'Money, Possessions, and Eternity' by Randy Alcorn)

How do we position ourselves for the turn? For a start, I guess we can do it by constantly focusing on the eternal (people) in the realm of the temporal (materialism). To me, it means spending time with my wife and son, despite of the pressure to earn a living or earn a name in the secular market. That to me has eternal value; that to me has a perspective of things. That's what I mean by "Hor ehh..."