ALICE:
Christ is Risen!! Indeed He is Risen!!
The whole concept is layered, too, with an addition. While we might get this whole concept of the eternal "now" after some thought, it is still dynamic, not static. So in addition to there being no pat or future, there is ongoing learning about the mysteries of God and His infinite glory. St. Gregory of Nyssa in his book From Glory to Glory sketches out the idea that we will continue to grow in virtue and grace in the Kingdom on a path started in this life.
I guess the best way I can keep it all together is to liken it to the overhead projector I used in teaching. You put a transparent sheet onto the table and it projects the image behind you. The Last Supper, the Passion, the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Second Coming, the Last Judgment--all of these are before the Face of the Father like a number of transparencies put one on top of the other but the images are not static but dynamic, moving events that glorify Him and show that the Eternal Logos has showed us the way by Himself doing the Father's Will in all things.
For us, we're already on the path to the Kingdom. I've been told that we have the yeast of the Kingdom in us through the Mysteries that the Church involves us in. Living the life of Christ within the Church is the path established. And that path is none other than the Person of Christ Himself. He is the way as His Church is the way. Everything comes back to His Person--love is a Person; faith is a Person; mercy is a Person. It is He in whom we live and move and have our being. Glory be to Him now and forever.
BOB
