The General Resurrection Is Followed by Enjoyment of What Is Unseen
The General Resurrection Is Followed by Enjoyment of What Is Unseen¹
I congratulate you, my brothers and my children, on the glorious Feast of the Resurrection, and on the grace of the Resurrection which God has granted us, that we may live another life in the blessed eternity. And I congratulate the beloved president Hosni Mubarak on the successful results of all his journeys for the good of Egypt and for the benefit of the great Arab homeland, asking for him and for you every blessing and goodness, and may God preserve the world in safety and peace.
And after this, I would like to speak to you in this blessed year about the essence of enjoyment in the other world through the Resurrection,
which is the saying of the Holy Bible: “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor 2:9). And for this the Bible advised us saying: “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18).
So what then are those things which are not seen? And what is it that no eye has seen, yet we have been promised to enjoy in eternity?
Among the things not seen: eternity:
We hear about eternity, and we read about it in the promises of God, but we have not seen eternity, for everything before us is passing away, and our life on earth has an end. So the one who constantly looks to eternity and to the extension of his life after death works for this eternity, and continually prepares for it through repentance and good works and spreading goodness everywhere and with everyone. And the one who constantly thinks of eternity does not look at this present world nor care for it, being certain that the world passes away with its desire. Likewise, he does not fix his desires on material things nor covet them… He lives in the world, but the world does not live in him, as he may possess material things, but does not allow material things to possess him, rather he uses them for good. For the world and matter are among the things which are seen, and therefore they are temporary—so he does not make them a cause for his spiritual loss—for the Lord Christ said: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matt 16:26). And therefore all that we lose from the world and material things we do not grieve over, for they will not accompany us on the last day nor be with us in eternity.
Also among the things not seen: the angels and the spirits of the righteous:
The angels are spirits, and they are around us seeing us, and saving us from many dangers, and despite their presence around us, we do not see them with these material eyes, but we will undoubtedly see them after the Resurrection in the blessed eternity, and likewise we will see the spirits of the righteous who have preceded us to heaven. But now, by the spirit we believe in the existence of angels, and we see them by faith, and we are ashamed to commit sin in their presence, even though they are not seen at present.
Among the things not seen also: the spirit:
The spirit is not seen, while the body is among the things seen. Therefore the spiritual person lives caring for his spirit and for its spiritual nourishment, and although the body has its material nourishment, the spirit is nourished by the life of virtue and righteousness, and is nourished by the love of God and by doing good, and by prayer and praise, and by the word of God in its depth and spirituality. And the person who cares for his eternity is careful for his spiritual growth and the spiritual exercises beneficial to him. That is because his concern for his spirit and its eternal destiny makes him exert all his effort in doing what binds it to God and His commandments, so it becomes sanctified for Him. At the same time, it makes his spirit the one that leads his body, and it never submits to its instincts, but with all caution and precision frees itself from the desires of the body, and from the distraction of the senses, and from the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. So these visible things do not have authority over him…
All the pleasures of earthly life are among the things seen, whereas the pleasures of eternity are what no eye has seen and have not entered into the heart of man.
And thus the ascetic fathers looked upon all the pleasures of this life, and found them perishing and fading, not worthy of their concern. So they rose above their level and above every desire in them, and died to the world, and renounced all earthly pleasures, looking to what they would enjoy after the Resurrection.
Among the things not seen also are the immaterial things:
And by this I mean ideals, values, principles, truth, goodness, and righteousness… and also faith, because it is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So whoever lives by faith lives looking at what is not seen.
And when he looks toward heaven, he does not look only at this atmospheric layer surrounding us, in which airplanes fly, nor to the firmament in which the sun and remote heavenly bodies exist, but to what is far above all that… to the heaven in which the angels and the throne of God exist, and in which everything proceeds according to the will of God, where there is neither sin nor disobedience. And also the heaven in which the spirits of the righteous dwell awaiting the day of Resurrection and the beginning of eternal life.
And those who look to what is not seen turn their hearts and thoughts to God—blessed is His power—God whom no one has ever seen in His divinity… We have not seen God, for our eyes are incapable of beholding Him… but we have seen His power and His wonders, and the work of His grace in us and in others. We have seen His unseen hand intervening in our problems and resolving them. And we have seen His generosity opening the windows of heaven and pouring upon us, satisfying every creature with His favor… And we have seen how God upholds truth and crushes falsehood, and how He judges for the oppressed… But the true enjoyment of fellowship with God in eternity is what we have not yet seen, but we await it by faith… faith in what no eye has seen nor entered into the heart of man.
As for how we will enjoy fellowship with God in eternity, and what the nature of that fellowship is—regarding this matter, it is better for me to remain silent. Eternity is what will reveal this matter to us, which language often fails to explain and describe…!
And since eternity has this indescribable beauty, then we must prepare for it…
We prepare for it by loving it before we reach it… and we prepare for it by not being attached to visible things and being preoccupied with them—truly, the heart that rises above visible things is an unbreakable fortress. It is a level above the world and above matter and the body…
So the one whose heart is completely attached to the love of visible things and to the lust of worldly matters—this poor person, when he leaves the body and ascends to heaven, will he find it strange to him?! Or will he be afflicted with disappointment, finding there none of the worldly pleasures he desires? Or will he grow weary of heaven—if he ever reaches it—and see this world as better!!
Therefore, my brothers and my children, we must from now train ourselves to love the heavenly things and to love the things unseen. And let us store up treasures for ourselves in heaven, that when we go there we may find them…
Let us do what we can, and ask the grace of God to complete for us what we cannot do. And let us hold fast to that lofty goal. And we must pray for love and peace in the whole world, especially in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and throughout the Arab world, and in Africa…
And every year you are all well.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III published in Al-Ahram newspaper on 8-4-2007 AD
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