"But be glad and enjoy
my creation forever;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness."
- Isaiah 65:18 -
A Theological Fantasy - Continued
CLICK HERE for the first installment of this series.
I've promised you stories of adventure here in the Glory.
If you know me and my proclivities, it will be no surprise to you that one of the first challenges I took up was to ride some really, really big waves.
Garrett McNamara on a 100-foot Wave - YouTube
These are the waves that, in my old body,
I'd look at with the strangest admixture of attraction and sheer terror.
Nowadays, of course, "terror" is one of those obsolete words. In my now perfected and indestructible body, I've been on waves over twenty times my height.
Some have speculated that risk and danger are essential to the enjoyment of extreme sports.
Poppycock!
Although the possibility of being harmed no longer exists, the absolute thrill and joy of the experience continues to shine through. In my (not so) humble opinion, the thrill is actually enhanced by the fact that my mind is not preoccupied with fear.
100ft+ waves. It took some working up to, but I've now experienced what only a tiny number of super-athletes from old Earth had ever before experienced. You should try it sometime!
But wait, there's more!
Have you ever surfed in the red tide at night?
One of the thrills of my "new-body life" has been getting barreled in a brilliant blue-green tunnel on a triple-overhead, red-tide wave at night. Try to imagine that.
Blazing Blue Barrels... - Image by catalano82 (cropped) CC BY 2.0
But there's more to life than surfing...
Yes, I know how hard that is to believe.
One extreme activity that used to literally be a "killer sport" is WingSuit flying.
Ocean Wingsuit Formation - By Richard Schneider ) CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
I never had the opportunity before.
I'm sure you're wondering why I would want to do that now, since I can already fly?
Have you ever heard of The Society for Creative Anachronism?
Lots of people still enjoy both preserving and building on action sports and activities developed during the dark ages of the world. Myself included. I help "resurrect" all kinds of fun.
Even though I can fly unaided, I can also "turn off" that capability. I really enjoy experimenting with sports that push the envelope of some of my old limitations as a mere mortal.
WingSuit flight is definitely one of those sports.
It's a rush that you simply have to experience to appreciate. I've said that often about surfing, and it goes triple for WingSuit flying.
You'll want to develop your skills far above the ground where small errors won't affect you much. However, once you have the hang of it, you may find yourself shooting along at 110MPH a scant ten feet off the ground.
The thrill of what used to often be a fatal sport is still there, but all the danger is gone.
Gliding through the 'Crack' Gorge in Switzerland - YouTube
By the way,
I've pulled a lot of these photos and clips from archives in the Library of Heaven. Why?
Actual images from your future, i.e. from the New Heavens and New Earth, tend to fall in the DND (Do Not Disclose) category. Sorry about that. Even so, I hope it will motivate you to ensure that you'll have a place here?
Kite surfing is another thing I've tried.
In fact, I've engaged in so many wildly varied recreational activities during the last millennium that, for the rest of this installment, I'll only share brief summaries of the fun I've been having.
Kite surfing includes a little bit of flying...
I've told you how much I love to fly, right?
It's utterly awesome to get to fly in dozens of different ways, and to experience flight every day of my life.
BMW R75/5 - By Stahlkocher
Image courtesy of CC-BY-SA-3.0 via [Wikimedia Commons
I've also restored an old motorcycle.
Actually, I had to re-create the one I wanted from scratch. After all, everything on old Earth went up in smoke.
It's an older design, a shaft-driven Beemer, a motorcycle I lusted after from the time I was a teenager. I never got to own one while I was alive in the old world, but it's been fun re-creating one from blueprints.
Where'd I get the prints?
From the Library of Heaven, of course. But that's an entire story in and of itself.
There are lots of "hobbyists" here who enjoy building "restorations" of various classic vehicles of all kinds. We get together for rallies, parades, and special events, and swap stories, parts, and plans all the time.
I find it pleasantly amusing: restoration is one of those completely wholesome activities that has survived "The Restoration" of all things! So have all kinds of other wonderful hobbies and activities that engage mind and hands in pleasant and profitable activity.
Paragliding.
Bird-like soaring, floating on the breeze. Another one of those things I never "got around to," mostly for financial reasons.
Before the end came, I was getting to know a friend who flew these things. He invited me to come see him fly. I watched quite a few of his videos and read the articles he wrote, and eventually got out to see him take off and soar. How inspiring!
He kept trying to tell me I could do it.
I would have loved to, but somehow — as with so many of the other interests I had — I just never got off the ground.
I have been making up for it in spades now, let me tell you! I've even become an accomplished seamstress so I can design and stitch up my own SurfKites, WingSuits, and ParaGliders.
Guess what I did a couple of years ago?
I looked up Leonardo Da Vinci.
Seriously? You're wondering how I found Leo?
You ought to know by now; it was the Library of Heaven.
After we shared a few beers and some shop talk, I said "Hey, Leo. Come flying with me."
I still find it hard to believe, but as it turns out, I was the first to introduce Leonardo to paragliding. We've been great friends ever since. He seemed a little bit taken aback, though, when I told him that he had always been one of my great inspirations as inventors go.
I now have lots of time for music.
When I was a teen ager, my mom took guitar lessons, and I learned to play. Well, more or less. I was always a "music hacker," but in the last thousand years or so I've really been able to devote myself to improving my performance skills.
Another nice thing about these new bodies? Everything is like riding a bicycle... Once you learn something well, you never forget it. And so my music just keeps getting better.
I build instruments too.
I've always had ideas for creating and improving musical instruments.
Have I ever told you about my piano keyboard with only two fingering patterns? Maybe I will one day. Maybe I'll tell you about my glass harmonica design too.
I have built some "ambient orchestras," another idea that I had as a teen. Arrays of acoustic and electronic instruments that are activated by the random stirring of natural elements.
Wind, rain, sun, clouds, light, time and date... all are inputs.
My orchestra responds with coordinated chords and melodies, driven by the ever-changing patterns and energy flows abundantly present in the surrounding creation.
My friend Scotty once built a guitar.
That's another thing I always wanted to do. I visited his workshop and saw his guitar in process. Different kinds of wood, all masterfully joined together to produce a rich symphony of sounds.
Guess what?
I've now made several guitars myself. Some of the old Spanish masters have been kind enough to tutor me in guitar design and construction techniques. I've reached a stage of accomplishment where I am beginning to incorporate some of my own design ideas into each new guitar that I build.
Want to hear about a humbling experience?
I'm getting better a little at a time, but it is still humbling to sit down and jam with Mark Heard and Chris Rice. When you add King David, Moses, Asaph, Solomon, and Korah's boys to the mix, then you have a real jam session going on!
It's been a real kick hearing some of the original Psalm tunes, songs I've wanted to hear all my life.
Music historians have had a field day.
Jubal didn't make it to Paradise, but some of his original instrument designs did. I've even built a few.
Some are evidently ancestors of the violin. Others were the original brass instruments, though valveless. All of them clearly exhibit God's common grace in granting all of mankind, redeemed or not, echoes of his own creative mind.
I've learned musical traditions from all over the world.
Different scales, different intervals, different harmonies.
Completely different instruments to experiment with, like the Japanese koto, the glass harmonica, the kalimba, and the hydraulophone.
I can't get enough horseback riding.
It's something I managed to do a few times before I died, and I've come to love it even more now.
I often go on long trail rides and sleep under the stars. My "western kit" includes a bedroll, coffee pot, some basic staples, and usually a friend or two that either enjoy horses or want to learn how to ride.
It has taken me a little while to get used to having conversations with the horses. While they aren't necessarily the sharpest knives in the drawer, I have no doubt at all that they enjoy the exercise, fresh air, and scenery as much as or more than I do. I've developed a close friendship with several of them.
Sometimes Marshmallow comes along.
Other times, it might be Coco. I've even had Friskie and Red Rocket join us from time to time.
Oh, didn't I mention it? Those are some of the family dogs that lived with us, that we loved dearly. Jesus knew that it was my heart's desire for them to be with me in the Glory. I had planned to ask, but he just surprised me by resurrecting them before I even got around to my petition.
You're probably wearying of hearing about my sporting activities.
It should be pretty obvious by now that anything fun and enjoyable we've ever dreamed up or done on Earth still exists.
I have no doubt that as eternity goes on - and on and on and on - new and wonderful sports and activities will be invented. And I'll grudgingly admit the possibility:
Some day, probably millions of years from now, someone may invent a sport that surpasses surfing.
But, I'm not going to hold my breath...
As you can readily see,
even though I've already been here longer than a dozen of my "natural lifetimes," I'm just getting started. Every day is a new and exciting adventure. The old stereotypes of heaven as a bland, boring place are just so much B.S. This is where you, if you're in possession of your faculties, want to be. I hope you're ready?
But I'd better clear something up.
You may be getting the impression that I live the life of a jaded playboy.
Not so!
In the New Heavens and New Earth, we have an endless variety of satisfying work available any time we wish to engage our creative gifts. Jesus/God has abundantly blessed me with interests, skills, and a desire for meaningful accomplishments.
Paul Simon, "Kodachrome"
In the old age, "work" somehow got a really bad reputation. I hope to explain why that may have been, as well as why work is now the complete blessing that it was originally meant to be.
Endlessly Engaging Work
Image courtesy of William Bout and http://unsplash.com
I'm looking forward to telling you a bit about the work I do here.
Next time.
=FIN=
