WEDNESDAY, December 16 Ember Day

I'm not yearning to die prematurely, but the vision of heaven given to us in Revelation is a just a tiny glimpse of what it will be like when we've drawn our last breath. What a wonderfully ecstatic day that will be. It's what we were made for, our reason for existence - to be with our Lord praising him forever.

Well said.

Thank you, Rob and Philip, for your comments.

I agree entirely with Rob's comment.

Where is Dia a Dia? I'd like to be able to use the bible to improve my Spanish skills.

I have to disagree with the previous commentors. If I believed that "what I was made for" as a Christian was to go on to an afterlife of praising Jesus in some fantastic, unimaginably beautiful setting, I could miss a lot of what I'm called to do here and now. As some of the writers said yesterday, it's very possible to see the Second Coming as happening now, as seeing Jesus in our fellow human beings, especially those in need. And in our Lord's prayer, we are taught to ask for his kingdom to come now, on earth as it is in heaven. I believe we were made to work toward that goal. Whether the glorious vision of heaven put forth in Revelation is accurate, none of us can say. But that there is need to follow Jesus's words and example now, who can doubt? (Of course these aren't mutually exclusive. My point is that we can draw inspiration for our Christian life from different sources.)

Ditto Andrea. The twin visions His kingdom come and will be done on Earth AND in Heaven are not mutually exclusive, nor are they incompatible.

Wow Andrea .. How beautifully written and said. I agree, and its a perspecitve not visited yet by a lot of Christians. You just might have opened a few minds and hearts .. Peace of the Lord be with you.

I am always looking for Heaven here on Earth.. its there.. be aware!!!!

I really do like this new format, and find that the comments by other readers are as interesting as the daily reflections. It's such a blessing to be able to read the comments of thoughtful, thinking people!

You are all making me very happy today. When we redesigned this webpage, we hoped to open up this blog so that dialog between readers and Day by Day authors could take place and readers could be in conversation with each other. That is obviously happening. You will also note a new feature as of last week. Readings and reader postings for the past seven days are listed at the left of this page. Formerly, each day's reading vanished after 24 hours. But now, conversations can continue for up to seven days. We're still refining this.
Now about your comments. I like what Andrea wrote. I do believe in heaven, an afterlife with Christ, or at least I strongly hope for that. But I try not to focus exclusively on what comes after death, because it was into this life and this world that the Son of God came. It is here that he chooses to engage us. "The home of God is among mortals" (Rev 21:3). I take that to mean that life with Christ isn't just for later on, but for right now. It's something we live and grow into, and I assume we continue to grow in the next life, too. A heaven that was always the same would be pretty dull, even if it was always singing "Holy, holy, holy" around the crystal sea.
As for Dia a Dia. That is the Spanish version of Forward Day by Day. It does not appear on this website, though we have talked about it and hope someday to post it here. I should tell you, though, that Dia a Dia is not always an exact translation of the English meditation. Our Spanish translators (we use a man and wife team) keep alert to references that work in English but wouldn't work in Spanish, and we give them a lot of liberty to re-write and change the English mediation when rendering it into Spanish.
To all of you, thanks for your comments. You've made my day!

Absolutely wonderful comments by all. I think this is a terrific addition to the site. Reading what others have to add certainly breaths more life into thoughts of the author. Bravo to everyone!