Even so, however strongly we believe that our relationship with God begins here and now, life in its fullness—life described as “eternal” because it only rings true if it is somehow analogous to the depth and quality of our best, seemingly timeless, earthly relationships—will always lie on the other side of the dark.

And faith would not be faith unless we are prepared to go, naked and trusting, into that darkness and face that final test.

Hamlet is right: “There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.”

from Enduring Melody