You’re Already There

Frieze of gandharvas and apsaras, residents of Svarga. Image from Wikipedia.

Most faiths revolve around the promise of a paradisiacal reward.

My Hindu friends speak of Svarga (Sanskrit: स्वर्गं, romanized: Svargaṁ) which literally means “abode of light” and is the celestial abode of the devas in Hinduism.

My Muslim friends speak of Jannah, the “gardens of pleasure,” for those who do good and receive Allah’s forgiveness (Qur’an 31:8).

My Jewish and Christian friends read in the Torah and New Testament of those who are worthy to have their names recorded in heaven.

But John the Revelator’s divine guide offered an interesting twist to this concept. He told John that those who overcome “shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out [their] name out of the book of life” (Rev. 3:5).

The Lord inverted the language while teaching the same principle to Moses. “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (Ex. 32:33).

Here’s my point: You can’t have you name blotted out of a book unless it’s already there. Every soul’s name is already in the heavenly record. Every soul began their mortal sojourn whole, healed, worthy, and with their eternal salvation intact.

And for my Mormon friends, Brigham Young said, “there never was a son and daughter of Adam and Eve born on this earth whose names were not already written in the Lamb’s book of life” (JD 12:100-101).

Stop laboring to attain what’s already yours. Live, instead, in gratitude for the gift that was already universally given. And help others to realize the same. You’re already there.