From the Prayer of the Church

This Lent our form of intercession has been General Prayer 2 (LSB Altar Book). I've been particularly struck by the final petition:

As we are strangers and pilgrims on earth, help us by true faith and godly life to prepare for the world to come, doing the work You have given us to do while it is day before the night comes when no one can work. And when our last comes, support us by Your power, and receive us into Your heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

It's that first sentence that is so great! By a true faith and a godly life what are we doing? We're preparing for the world to come. We're practicing for that life where LOVE will be all and the praise will not end and the joys will never cease, but only grow on and on. Faith and godly life prepare us for that world, where the joys we glimpse even now through our feeble and constantly failing efforts, will be steady and sure and ever increasing.

Practicing for the future. What a grand and holy prospect!