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More time passed and Summer became Autumn.  The temperature got colder, the leaves changed colors and began to fall, and the residents struggled with their faith.  The fact that life in Weatherview was no picnic had become evident to all.  The dreams didn’t mean every day was a field day and they could do whatever they wanted.  God’s expectations were becoming clear.  The people who didn’t take the time seriously were being weeded out of society.  To keep the commandments was becoming priority number one.  Few people witnessed the punishment and purification but there was an unspoken understanding that God was removing and burning everything that didn’t belong in heaven.  They didn’t need to see or talk about it, they could feel it.  They could feel the source of life working within them, not only weeding out and destroying what was unholy but also nourishing and blessing what was holy.  Time seemed to expand and become multidimensional.  Sometimes it would pass slowly as if one were hiking up a mountain, and other times it would roll out ahead as if they had made it to the top.  Some of the people in Weatherview, some of those who could afford to do so, quit their jobs and were spending more time with family, and giving time and money to more humanitarian causes.  They wanted to finish what time they had left focusing on love and the invisible abstractions, faith, honor, kindness, hope, all the virtues we can’t see but which are supremely important.  Families made an effort to draw closer, eating together, going places, meeting each other’s friends, and generally being outgoing and affable.  The wise among the city’s residents had taken note of the fact that the more one does for the sake of simple kindness, the better one’s life becomes.  The miracles were nice, but visiting an old friend to say hello was a miracle in and of itself.  Not all the people were taking the hint and practicing virtues.  Their presence clashed with the love of those who were praying and staying ready for the new age.  One could feel the selfishness like a dark fire when greed would flare up, but it would soon subside again and there would be peace and further healing.  A cycle was at work to prepare people, a cycle of life and passing away.  The eternal spring of life would rise and flow like a mighty river, while the opposition would wither and disappear.  It was no longer the old who died but the ones who failed to seek and obey the truth, to pray for help and believe in the goodness of the One who made us.  Fewer people looked to the future with specific goals in mind.  Instead, they surrendered everything they had to He who could accomplish anything.  Far less anxiety plagued people’s hearts, fewer arguments, less malice.  Many lifelong residents remembered why they loved Weatherview so much in their youth.  The dreams would carry them forward to the world they used to love with such innocent exuberance, reminding them that true joy is never ending, and love is meant to go on and on and on.  Once in a while they would be inspired and entertain thoughts of charging ahead and overthrowing whatever barriers were left between earth and sky, but like those who fell back into sin they would become quiet and fade away.  Rather than asking what the economy would do or who would be in power in the coming years people instead asked what humankind had been made for, and what perfection really looks like.  They felt as though they were on the edge of something they could not yet see or understand.  The miraculous dreams were only the beginning.  Times of spiritual hardship preceded times of abounding love.  Those who returned to God in prayer were blessed with mercy and guidance for the future.  Those who humbled themselves received grace from above.  The world itself started feeling extraneous, like a superficial shell of a higher, richer, more glorious world to come, but thinking about the future was all but forbidden.  “We do not deserve this,” they would repeat to themselves.  Not knowing what would happen next became advantageous for those who wished to leave the world behind.  If you don’t know what’s coming, you cannot become attached to what is already here.  Love was the thing, the word, the ultimate goal reigning supreme over all else.  Everything would fall perfectly into place, nothing bad or harmful around the corner, only joy and smooth sailing, home, home, home…  Some days felt like the first day ever, so fresh and new were the spirits inside them.  They woke up feeling like today truly was the first day of the rest of their lives.  And why shouldn’t it be?  Love had won.  All things were possible.  The time had come to live.