In Chapter III I gave a description of the kingdom of God on earth. I shall now repeat that statement as an equally good description of the kingdom of God in heaven:
"The kingdom of God is a loving intelligent family, organized around the Father's good will, living in the universe as His home, using the forces of nature as the instruments of His will, and making all things vocal with His wisdom, love, and power."
So little has the kingdom of God been realized on earth that it is like a kingdom on paper in comparison with what has doubtless been realized elsewhere in the universe.
3. Will there be a Holy City?
There will doubtless be many holy cities and plenty of country too. The Holy City described in the book of Revelation was, in the thought of the writer, to be located on earth. While it should be our aim to build an ideal city on earth, yet like most of our aims it will probably fall short. If in some respects the City of Revelation does not appear to be the most desirable kind of place in which to live, nevertheless, as a thing of symmetry and beauty it is a marvelous picture. A perfect city is a wonderfully attractive thought; and none the less so because one enjoys a vacation in the country. If there is no ideal city in this universe, there should be. New York, London, and Paris, in spite of the ugliness, squalor, crime, and disease which they contain, are very fascinating. They bring together so much knowledge, wealth, and power that one feels the mighty impact of it all upon his soul. If one lives under the most favorable conditions in a great city, his consciousness so blends with the whole that the city seems to be but his larger self. This is simply the fuller experience of that law of consciousness which makes a man feel larger when he puts on a fur coat, or taller when he wears a silk hat, and causes a woman to feel like her silks and plumes and fluffy garments. A city without crime, disease, poverty, or ugliness; a Holy City filled with art, music, knowledge, love, and every kind of fascinating employment; such a city would lift one into a sense of joy and greatness beyond words to express.
From our present meager knowledge of the universe, what kind of a city would be possible if all the laws and resources of nature were fully utilized? Considering, then, the millions of people who have grown rich in wisdom and character through millenniums of experience in the congenial company of their fellow citizens of a heavenly kingdom, what is it reasonable to suppose they have done in the way of realizing these possibilities? Even with our limited knowledge of nature's resources, we know they could have built a city that would make the one pictured in Revelation look like a beautiful Christmas toy. And if the departed are living in our universe and not in a vacuum, what could have prevented them from achieving such a glorious result?
"For thee, O dear, dear country,
Mine eyes their vigil keep."
Every one is justified in viewing his life in the light of this larger perspective. For by so doing he not only prepares himself for better citizenship in the life beyond, but at the same time accomplishes a larger and better piece of work on earth. When we break our lives and the universe up into fragments, as so many do, we are like children playing with broken pieces of china. For each of us there is one life, in one universe, under one leader. Beginning in weakness, life grows into strength; beginning in ignorance, it develops into wisdom; beginning in selfishness, life expands into a kingdom of love and righteousness. At first we are submerged in the material; but finally we discover that the material is of spiritual origin, and that it can be turned to spiritual ends. Like true artists, we no longer scorn the material forces, but see in them all the latent image of the divine. Whether the image that finally appears shall be a devil or a God will depend upon the hands that shape the material.
4. Will there be music?