Afterword

There comes a point when language fails. The tongue falls silent and typing fingers rest. The search for words to articulate feeling ceases and a hushed reverence is the only possible response.

The characters we have followed in this story are, of course, avatars through which we have explored some of our thoughts around the process of reconciliation. They are motifs representing elements within the wide spectrum of humanity.

We leave our characters lost in awe at the magnitude of what agape love is doing. They have come to understand a little of the ongoing story of God. We do not know for certain what the future holds for humankind, but we believe we have glimpsed a vision of an unfolding story in which the source of all continues to create and recreate out of the generosity of agape love.

If you have read our depiction of a town or village in the Eternal City and feel that you would not wish to live there, do remember that God loves variety. Human history is full of wonderful diversity, and we are sure that will not change in the ages to come. We believe that God will create settings appropriate for each individual once they have matured to live by agape love. Humankind will know a freedom to live as never before – to live and move and ‘be’ in an expansive and totally fulfilling environment.

Have you ever known what it is to be loved? To be held? To be told that everything will be alright? At our core we all need to hear this. It’s good news, because so much in our world tells us the opposite.

Many theologians from many faith traditions have expounded the virtues of love. Many believers trust in a God who is love. However, not many have attempted a theory of the mechanics of how such a God might love creation into eternity – the ages to come – and into individual and collective maturity.

Whoever we are and whatever we have done, we are convinced that we are all included in God’s plan for redemption. Nobody has ever burned their bridges to agape love, and we believe nobody ever could. As the Apostle Paul wrote, this love ‘keeps no record of wrongs… It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.’

The belief that everyone is loved by God gives hope to us all. This vision of the future leaves no one behind and that is why we have called it Hope for Everyone. God does not abandon any of us and no one will slip through his fingers into some abyss. To such ideas of eternal loss and punishment we say an emphatic, impassioned and prayerful ‘NO!’ This story and our accompanying online project, Love Above All Things, aim to encourage a thoughtful and honest exploration of this good news.

Our modus operandi is not to argue or convince, but rather to invite and facilitate investigation into what we believe. We are far from alone in holding such convictions. People of faith throughout the centuries have believed that God will redeem and restore all things (the Greek word for this doctrine is apokatastasis). There are myriad books, blogs, talks, essays and histories about these beliefs to discover and explore. Indeed, the best stories inspire us to dream bigger dreams, hope bigger hopes and engage with life in a more energised and positive way.

It is not possible to finish a story that continues into the eternal ages to come. We have explored the process – the how of love – and have stopped at a convenient point with our four main characters in the Eternal City. It’s difficult, and probably impossible, for us to fully comprehend what the ages ahead would hold for them and for us. Fundamentally, we believe that this strange, wonderful, terrible, beautiful experience we currently find ourselves in is full of meaning. Absolutely nothing is wasted – even our pain and our suffering. All things can, and will, be made new in the fullness of time.

We believe we are all loved and that eventually everyone will love everyone and live an abundant life.