Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/294

 appeared to  the  Apostles  after  they  had  seen  their  Lord ascend to  heaven! So should  they  appear  to  you. Reflecting on heaven  as  the  term  of  your  existence,  you should bid  adieu  to  this  world  before  it  bids  adieu  to  you, and leave  nothing  undone  to  secure  for  yourself  a  place in those  heavenly  mansions.

I. The  soul  will  be  completely  penetrated  with  God, in a  more  perfect  degree  than  heated  iron  is  with  fire. The memory  will  be  constantly  employed  in  the  recollection of  most  delightful  objects. The mind  cannot  be diverted  from  the  present  happiness  which  it  enjoys. "They shall  publish  the  memory  of  the  abundance  of Thy  sweetness,  and  shall  rejoice  in  Thy  justice. "  (Ps. cxliv  7.)

II. The understanding  will  be  entirely  absorbed  in contemplating  the  vision  of  God. It will  instantly  behold the  divine  nature,  the  trinity  of  persons,  the  attributes of  God,  and  other  objects  which  are  now  mysterious. Then it  will  see  the  profound  secret  of  God's  decrees, and of  His  providence  over  each  individual  of  the  human family. "We see  now  through  a  glass  in  an  obscure manner,"  writes  St. Paul, "but  then  face  to  face." (r Cor. xiii.  12.)  Exclaim  with  enraptured  David,  "  Thy friends,  O  God,  are  made  exceeding  honorable." (Ps. cxxxviii. 17.)

III. The will,  in  an  ineffable  manner  will  adhere  to God,  and  will  be,  as  it  were,  transformed  into  Him  by love  and  overflow  with  joy. The oracle  of  the  Royal Prophet will  then  be  fulfilled,  "They  shall  be  inebriated