There will not come a day
On which the Earth finally settles down
And the mayhem comes to a close—
Though many seem to be wishing for it
Or even expecting that such a resolution
Should be the fitting end of this tumult.
It will never happen that
All the Earth’s hearts are stilled at once
And all the strife resolved.
This peace for which so many long
Is the way of the next world, and not of this.
We cannot go there until we are done here.
Nor can we go there unless we have first
Learned our lessons here to the satisfaction
Of the Creator, who made both worlds.
This world is a proving grounds for the next world,
And many have sought to avoid the proving,
Which proves them unworthy of the next.
And among them are those who pretend it is not so,
Spinning the Religion into one in which those
Who do not endure to the end and overcome
Get to go on to the next world anyway.
But even they will see.
They will see.
2 Esdras 7
50. For this reason the Most High has made not one world but two.
51. Inasmuch as you have said that the righteous are not many but few, while the ungodly abound, hear the explanation for this.
52. “If you have just a few precious stones, will you add to them lead and clay?”
53. I said, “Lord, how could that be?”
54. And he said to me, “Not only that, but ask the earth and she will tell you; defer to her, and she will declare it to you.
55. Say to her, “You produce gold and silver and bronze, and also iron and lead and clay;
56. but silver is more abundant than gold, and bronze than silver, and iron than bronze, and lead than iron, and clay than lead.’
57. Judge therefore which things are precious and desirable, those that are abundant or those that are rare?”
58. I said, “O sovereign Lord, what is plentiful is of less worth, for what is more rare is more precious.”
59. He answered me and said, “Consider within yourself what you have thought, for the person who has what is hard to get rejoices more than the person who has what is plentiful.
60. So also will be the judgment that I have promised; for I will rejoice over the few who shall be saved, because it is they who have made my glory to prevail now, and through them my name has now been honored.
61. I will not grieve over the great number of those who perish; for it is they who are now like a mist, and are similar to a flame and smoke–they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished.”
2 Esdras 8
1. He answered me and said, “The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of only a few.
2. But I tell you a parable, Ezra. Just as, when you ask the earth, it will tell you that it provides a large amount of clay from which earthenware is made, but only a little dust from which gold comes, so is the course of the present world.
3. Many have been created, but only a few shall be saved.“
2 Esdras 8
38. For indeed I will not concern myself about the fashioning of those who have sinned, or about their death, their judgment, or their destruction;
39. but I will rejoice over the creation of the righteous, over their pilgrimage also, and their salvation, and their receiving their reward.
40. As I have spoken, therefore, so it shall be.
41. “For just as the farmer sows many seeds in the ground and plants a multitude of seedlings, and yet not all that have been sown will come up in due season, and not all that were planted will take root; so also those who have been sown in the world will not all be saved.”
Matthew 13:23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
1 John 5:3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
John 14:24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.
