Though we may laugh at Mark Twain's caricature of the saint with his golden harp, yet music is not to be laughed out of this universe. There will be music, of course; though heaven will not run all to music, yet there will be plenty of it and it will be of the right quality.
We know perfectly well that this vibrant universe has unlimited musical possibilities, and that we have scarcely begun to utilize these possibilities either in the way of music or instruments. With the instruments improved a thousand fold and multiplied a million fold, they would call for such noble music as has never yet been written. With the technique possible to more highly refined bodies, with time to outgrow all amateur execution, with the leadership of all the musical geniuses of the ages, and with an unlimited number of voices and performers to select from, the music of a heavenly city should surpass our wildest dreams. And there is no sensible reason for thinking that there would be music without sound or that there would be musicians without instruments. We have no right to think well of God, and at the same time think ill of His forces with which He enfolds us.
5. Shall we meet our loved ones?
I see no difficulty in the way of meeting our loved ones in a future state. Of course, I could not abide permanently with my parents, and they with theirs, and so on clear back to Adam. The great population would, of necessity, be scattered over a wide area. After reaching maturity we do not, as a rule, live with our parents here on earth. The connection is kept up by the different modes of communication and by an occasional visit. And though the distances there would, doubtless, be much greater than here, yet the means of communication and of travel would much more than rectify the difference in distance. In heaven, as here, we should probably have some friends near by and others remote from us. However, we have already overcome space to a marvelous degree on earth; and have scarcely commenced to use the resources of which we are aware. We not only have the omnipresent mail system, the telegraph, and the telephone, but we have made some use of the electrical pen, and are rapidly developing the wireless telephone. Scientifically it would be possible, even now, so to develop the wireless telephone that a speaker could be heard by every one in the United States at the same time. If we could project the images of those speaking, as we are hoping to do, we should have a very good hint of the possibilities of communication in a future state. With finer bodies, and finer instruments, and a better knowledge of nature's forces, it seems credible that we could see and hear our friends with but little regard to distance. There is no reason for putting limitations on the possibilities of nature, even here on earth; and much less reason for doing so in connection with the future state of existence. All the suggestions are in the opposite direction. The X-Ray enables us to see through solid bodies. Radium, which has no appearance of light, will affect a photographic plate through a foot of iron. Actinium, one of the radioactive substances, is said to have a chemical activity which is about a thousand million times swifter than that of radium. And the discovery of new rays is getting to be a common occurrence. Everywhere, nature is suggesting heretofore unheard of possibilities; it is apparently vindicating what we have been saying, that nature is of God, and that we are enfolded in His energies for the purpose of using them. Nature, that proceeds from God, is doubtless as exhaustless as God Himself. There are no indications that it will ever fail His children as they move on and out into largeness of life and richness of experience.
We little children on earth, as previously illustrated, are in quest of omnipresence; and we are slowly achieving it by progressively taking on the universe as our augmented bodies. Then how much more rapidly may we realize this process of enlargement under the new conditions to which we are going? Not only shall we have finer bodies, but we shall be in company with those who for thousands of years have been learning the secrets of God and His universe. Our increased knowledge of the world in which we live does not raise new barriers between citizens of heaven, but suggests a thousand rational modes of contact inconceivable a hundred years ago. Every day I am more amazed at the way the natural sciences assist Christian faith. Yet this is as it should be if all things come from God.
6. Shall we see God?
Certainly not as a ghost; but we shall see Him in the face of Jesus. We shall likewise see Him in our loved ones. Since all bodies are primarily God's, we shall see Him in every face, when the purified souls of His children permit Him to come into possession of His own.
One glorious evening in the springtime, I sat in the gloaming with my father by the roadside. From an exceedingly hard day's work we were "dead tired." Yet for our healing, the air was filled with the scent of newly turned turf and the fragrance of blossoms. A large drove of swine was crunching the corn which we had just provided them. The woods, beginning at the other side of the road from which we sat, extended into the deep valley. From the dark shadow of the woods rose the incessant din of the whippoorwills. As we sat there, feeling a thousand influences from the sweet mystery of it all, my father turned to me and said:
"I know you are very tired; we have really worked too hard, but the debts must be paid. I want you to know that I appreciate what you are doing. You have been a good boy, and I have confidence in you. It will not be long until I am gone. But what a satisfaction it is to feel that you will be a good Christian man accomplishing in the world, when I am gone, things which I have not been able to do." As the golden glow of a late evening sky fell across his face, it mingled with the light from his soul and clearly revealed the Eternal. God had looked into my soul through that face, and I had looked into the heart of God no less than into the heart of my father. Yes, he has been gone many years, and I am here fighting the good fight, but oh my heart, what shall I see when next I look upon his face!
We may depend upon it, the invisible soul of God and the invisible souls of His children shall become visible through their bodies, through their activities, and through their institutions which are in common. Their spirits shall likewise become audible through music and speech. Our Father in heaven differs from our God on earth only in this: On earth there is so little to express Him, while in heaven there is so much. God truly has a throne in heaven, but the great white throne is the pure and loyal hearts of His children.