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That our union with God will follow in the next century and that it will be for us a source of light, peace, joy, and bliss, we partly know this experimentally in this life. Through prayer, when our soul is completely turned to God and unites with Him, we feel wonderful, calm, light, joyful, like children resting at their mother’s breast, or, better to say, somehow inexpressibly good: “it’s good for us to be here” (Luke 9:33). So, strive unremittingly for the future endless bliss, the beginnings of which you know experimentally in this life, but pay attention: these are only the beginnings of the earth, imperfect, visible only in part, as if in a mirror and fortune telling (cf. 1 Cor. 13:12); What will it be like for us when we most sincerely unite with God, when images and shadows pass and the kingdom of Truth and vision begins? Oh, until death we must strive for future bliss, for our future unity with God (6). The degrees of bliss and torment in the next century will be different. This is also proven by the present state of souls of different people or the same person at different times, in different situations. The simpler, kinder, more sociable a person is, the more blissful he is internally; the more crafty, evil, and self-loving, the more unhappy; the stronger his faith and love, the more blessed he is; the weaker, the worse, so those of little faith, faithlessness, and misanthropes are the most unfortunate people. Accordingly, understand about future torment (6). A carnal man does not understand the spiritual bliss that comes from prayer and virtue, and cannot understand at least to some extent what kind of bliss there will be in that age. He knows nothing higher than earthly, carnal bliss and considers future blessings to be a dream of the imagination. But the spiritual person knows from experience the bliss of a virtuous soul and anticipates in his heart future bliss in advance (6). You might be interested in: