“Not long now; but each in his order.  Leave that to the Lord.”

They looked out at Alice.  The swans were eating from her hand, and she was stroking their curved necks.

“To look back,” said he, “and see the wonderful ways through which the Lord has brought us to this perfection, fills my heart with praise to Him.  Now we are beyond the power of death and the evil one.  Now the pure, life-giving spirit of God flows in our veins instead of the blood of mortality.  Now we can know the two sides of things.  We understand the good, because we have been in contact with the evil.  Our joy is perfect, because we have experienced pain and sorrow.  We know what life is, eternal life, because we have passed through the ordeal of death.”

“Yes, Father teaches a good school.”

“And we have learned this truth,” said she, “that existence itself is a continuous penalty or reward.  The children of God reap as they sow from eternity to eternity.”

“Yes; then dwell on this thought for a moment:  Our lives have just begun, as it were.  We have eternity before us, and we are only now equipped to meet it.”

“I am lost in the thought.  But tell me about this thousand years of earthly peace and the last great change.  Husband, I am a pupil now, and you the teacher.”

“There is much to tell in contemplating not only the realities but the possibilities of the future.  This earth has for some time been enjoying its Sabbath of peace and rest.  He who rebelled in the beginning and fought against God is bound, and Christ is sole King of the earth.  His laws go to the ends thereof, and all nations must obey them.  The Saints are building holy places, and working for the living and the dead.  No graves are now made, as the bodies of the Saints do not sleep in the dust.  Thus it will go on until the thousand years are ended.  Then Satan will be loosed for a little season; but his time will be short.  Then comes the last great scene.  The Lord will finish His work.  In the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, He will be seen with all His angels.  The mortal Saints yet on the earth will be instantly changed and caught up to meet Him.  The holy cities will be lifted up.  Then the elements will melt with fervent heat.  The earth will die as all things must, and be resurrected in perfection and glory, to be a fit abode, eternally, for celestial beings.  All things will become new; all things will become celestial, and the earth will take its place among the self-shining stars of heaven.  Then shall we receive our eternal inheritance, with our children and our families.  Then shall we be in possession of that better and more enduring substance spoken of by the prophets.  All things shall be ours, ’whether life or death, or things present, or things to come;’ all are ours, and we are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.”

“Why, then we will be like unto God.”

“And is it strange that children should become like their father?”