I was thinking about this instead of the sermon on Sunday.

It was the most beautiful room anyone could ever be in, and there wasn't ever a person who didn't like that room. And there wasn't ever a person who could find that room until it was time for them to find that room. One day, they're just in the room.  Not everyone gets into that room. Oh no, not even a lot of people who do try to look for it. But of the people who get into that room, they all love it. It doesn't matter if they are architectural enthusiasts or design snobs; the room is perfect for each of them (funny enough, it's also the same for each of them).

So they're coming and going out of this room (a lot of them, but not as many as there could be), and at some point they all go over to this long table full of books. Every book is the same: The Book of Life. And each person gets to sit down and find their name in it. It's seriously better than anything you've ever done. They get to look it up (because anyone who gets to sit down and look through it like that has their name in it), and they get to read everything that's listed under it. 

On that list is a bunch of really good stuff. The kind of stuff that if you read it here, you'd get vain and proud. Folks wouldn't like you much anymore, and you'd just turn into a really yucky person. You'd try to do that same stuff more and more, just so that maybe you could read more good thing about yourself. But it wouldn't even be good stuff to do anymore, because you're only doing it for a pretty yucky you.  

But when they read that good stuff in that room, they don't even think about themselves. They just think about how happy they were to be able to do it. They didn't even know that that one thing they said to that one person would show up in this book. It just did, and wow! See how it helped that person! And they didn't know that they were ever going to read about spending time with that one person that one day. But hey, that one person was so blessed by it! And look at that: every single dollar, and food item, and pair of shoes that they ever gave in the name of the Lord shows up, along with its journey to help the helpless. Just think about where that pair of shoes walked. And it's delightful.

Eventually, they get done reading about themselves. They can only think about themselves for so long when they're there. But they're not done with that book. They get to look up other people! Grandparents, Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, teachers, students, co-workers, and really just whoever else they want to look up. They get to read about them, too! 

Perhaps if you were to read really good stuff about yourself and then read really good stuff about other people you know, you might enjoy reading about yourself a little more. But not them. They're just as happy to read about the other people and everything they did that was glorious. Maybe even happier, because that means that they've been there. 

You see, they can only read the names of people who have been in that room. They'll look up some people, and find their name. And they get excited when they find their names. They get to read all about them, and be so delighted. They'll look up some people, though, and not find their name. Those folks aren't in The Book of Life. It's pretty sad, because those folks did some pretty good stuff and it would have been lovely to read about it. They can't feel too bad about it, though, because the next moment they'll find the next name they were looking for and get to celebrate over all that person's really good stuff.