(personally editing myself, again I must remind anyone reading this that I have no theological training, no deep study into the teachings of scholars and theologians who have come before me. I'm an 18 year old teenager who has ideas. So do take whatever's here with a pinch of salt.)

The other evening I was reading C. S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain (and no, there are no sections on EE/TOK/IA, though one might easily be able to extend 'suffering' to include any aspect of IB), and was struck by one particular rumination about the type of experience one would undergo in Heaven. In particular, one section which I will here first quote verbatim, and further expound on later.

... Surely, that each of the redeemed shall forever know and praise one aspect of the Divine beauty better than any other creature can. Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving infinitely, should love differently? And this difference, so far from impairing, floods with meaning the love of all blessed creatures for one another, the communion of the saints. If all experienced God in the same way and returned to Him an identical worship, the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note."

What Lewis describes here, upon reflection, seems to work as a conclusion. But we must not get ahead of ourselves; let us step backwards.

Let the thesis I first push forward first be this: that God loves each person uniquely. I do not use 'unique' as most mean it, not in the sense that the love He pours abundantly on us is distinct, but that it is unique, the only one of its kind. That the way with which our Heavenly Father loves us is completely special to us.

We know quite concretely that God is love, and by experience we have felt that truly He does love us, but the common man often asks: "If He says to love me, that I can scarce swallow! So if He says He loves us all, it seems to me to have lost a little significance. Does He love me for me? Or does He simply love humanity on a whole, and in that bloc I have been lucky enough to be included." Of course, some might quip that God loves us each infinitely, loving without detracting from the love of another. It is an idea that we find difficult to reconcile with our own ideas of Love, and some might find refuge by claiming it again to be an avenue available to the Omniscient One; all-powerful God and therefore well within His realms. in this reconciliation let us not miss out on an important truth: that God, who shaped and made all, does not love us each in the same mass-produced manner, as if from synthetic food, each block of candy tasting exactly the same as the other. no, our Divine Creator does not love each in the exact same manner; He loves us uniquely, in the way that every lock has a unique key, and as His love pours it will fit that lock in a unique way.

I must be careful here to state that God does not differ in magnitude of love (if here we temporarily accept the absurd notion of quantifying love). If love were rain each would be loved as boundlessly as if each atom were an ocean in itself. If love were warmth each would be loved with the heat of a million suns. No, God loves us each infinitely, and if there were only one of us that sinned and fell short of His most righteous glory the Son would undoubtedly still undergo the same unimaginable tortures to set that one soul free. Again, He does not love your neighbour more than He loves you, nor you more than your neighbour; but He does love you different than your neighbour.

Each soul is different, unique, individuated from its fellow not merely biologically, in its DNA, nor psychologically, through its experiences and circumstances; no, we are different on a spiritual level, each imprinted with the Master's seal, hand-crafted in the secret place for a specific purpose to His Glory and pleasure. And even as we have sinned and distanced ourselves across a mighty chasm, God first bridged that chasm in the act of sacrifice on the hill of Calvary, then strove to fill the selfsame chasm in ourselves; to fill our hearts with the love He so desires to. But the love which fits the mould of each heart is unique to that heart; why else do we experience the presence of The Counsellor in such different ways? Some experience the presence of God as a thrilling feeling of electricity running through the body as the Divine touches the mortal. Some experience a deep warming sensation that fills one with peace and leaves with contented sighs, as the Prince of Peace makes His entrance. Some experience the prickling of goosebumps in the body's response to a Power that it stands in the midst of. Yes it does follow patterns, but does the Spirit not bestow upon us different gifts, different anointings and blessings appropriate to the course He decides to set for us? I believe His love for us to be individuated, as His crafting of each soul is individuated.

Surely you have felt that sometimes in the world we live in, corrupted as it is, the tinges of something that seems to move something indescribable in you. Lewis quotes the sensations one feels when looking at certain sceneries or backdrops, or when listening to certain types to music, in attempts to voice out our sort of need. A deep, gaping, chasm of need, need for something we can't quite put our fingers on. We see, sometimes, in our closest friends and the ones we love deeply, the faintest inkling of resemblance of both the needs, much like finding someone who appreciates a fine bottle of fuji apple like you do, or in the faint resemblance of the Divine in others, whatever infinitesimally tiny portion of God in another that so happens to fit one valley in the undulating landscapes of the locks of our hearts; some part of God others have been blessed with that fits the need in yourself (but we must take utmost care never to attempt to let it take the place of God; a droplet is nothing compared to the boundless ocean, nor a crumb to a full seven-course meal).

As each lock differs from another, so does our need differ from others. And as one key differs from another, so His love differs for each person. Make no mistake though; all have the same type of need, that can only be satisfied by our God. And all the types of love that loves us is only a part of the bountiful, majestic love of our Creator, Master, Father, Lover; infinite in width and breadth and depth. The love that loves us each is different, but its origins are the same. And the sum total of it all is the unending love that He pours upon us.

And as He loves us each differently, so do we see that singular Divine aspect uniquely. What He affords to us is one part of Himself that no one else sees, or gets to see quite like we get the honour of seeing. In the inimitable nature that He loves each distinct soul, He presents that portion of Himself that was made for it. Thus Creator and Created are linked individually through that connection which is beyond words; a piece of the Eternal God and King which He awards freely upon each new soul. No, not 'awards', for it is not given. It is imprinted in each soul; it is the reason for each soul. It is the key the lock is moulded from. The special imprint of an aspect of Himself which then becomes the soul, from which mind and body are layered accordingly.

What follows when we assume this thesis is quite an amazing conclusion when we bring ourselves before the Ultimate Conclusion, or rather, the conclusion of the prologue chapter. When the Son of God appears again, and we depart from Earth with our souls and new bodies, leaving the temporal for the Eternal, we carry that unique imprint onto ourselves. Such that in the Heavenly Realms, when His Bride assembles and sings the songs of endless worship, each soul exalts the Father, lifting up that particular aspect of Him that they and they alone have been given privy access to. Indeed, there may be bits that correlate with the aspects others may see, for certainly all worship the same God, the same Father, the same Son, the same Spirit. But through the uniqueness of their souls they are able to worship that special aspect of the Divine none of their fellows may.

Thus it occurs to me the reason for individuation. I fall were loved as same, and all returned love as same, then would it not be the sound of an infinite trumpets playing the same note. Or even if, indeed, He loves us all same, but that within ourselves which causes us to respond (in love) differently, a filter so deeply crafted into us certainly cannot be from our own doing, but from the hand of the Creator. Thus the song of Heaven is that of an untold millions of voices, different as tambourine from piano, singing in perfect harmony with each other the everlasting songs of worship and praise.

Then see also, the sacredness of each soul. Through the mighty working of His hand He allowed the possibility of falling away, for an aspect of Himself to be imprinted on souls that may not, at the end of the day, come to join the orchestral choir. Then understand the depth at which each needs God, and in God, will not lose the uniqueness of his or her soul in a faceless crowd of converts, but will discover the true nature of one's own soul, the richness from that relationship with the Almighty, and in its own distinct, special, unparalleled and inimitable voice join in the Eternal song.

(many thanks to my editor. I apologise for how long this particular post is, but I think it makes up for the drought right?)