And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding;

And no man knows it

There was a large heap of wood in the campfire ring. But when the man tried to light it, it would not light. The wood was laid too thickly. The flames choked out. Much of the wood was punky and would by no means take a light.

The man removed bad wood and more bad wood and overstocked wood until all that was left were a small stick and three twigs. But those caught the flame and burned with light.

Explanation: We can measure and compare by quantities. For example, we could look at the wood laid for fire in different hearths or campfire rings and decide which one had the most wood. But often there is a phase change that is what matters. Numbers count in fighting, but if one side is a mob and the other has transformed themselves into a military unit, the advantage is all theirs.

A lit fire is qualitatively different from an unlit stack of wood. Adding more wood to an overstacked heap would be mindless; you would need to remove wood to see the magical transformation of dead sticks into dancing fire.

We are the stacks of wood. The heap of punky wood laid too thickly represents the wicked soul that God consigns to the telestial kingdom. By the time he removes all the corrupted abilities and desires and memories there may be very little left. No more, perhaps, than the equivalent of a stick or two and a smattering of twigs. But what is left will light and burn and shine in glory. And there is no entropy there–what is lit will shine forever.A purified human spirit and a purified human body is such a powerful unstoppable combination that even if God has to pare down the spirit to almost nothing to get a pure piece of it, and the same with the body, then the little pure nubbins that are left will ignite each other in a glory so bright that the great prophet of this dispensation will say it surpassed all his understanding.

The celestial souls also start out as overstacked piles of punky wood. They can’t take a light either, not as is. The difference is they allow God to restack and throw out the punk in this life. They allow Him to light them in this life. To light them and then to add more fuel to the blaze. Enough so that they undergo another phase change. The fire is no longer just hot enough to sustain itself. It is now hot enough to spread.

The celestial soul is a forest fire in the middle of infinite trees. Where no tree once lit will ever go out.


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