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+---
+title: A Date with Eternity Epilogue
+---
+
+Life Lesson: Do things every day to retain that vital eternal
+perspective that aids our smaller daily decisions.
+
+This story is a follow-on to the original article. It will be an
+addition of insights that have come with the perspective of time. I
+suppose a better title would be "The Wisdom of Perspective". Please be
+patient as I explain what I mean.\
+\
+In late Summer of this year (2018), Lori and I traveled to California to
+meet with Angela Salmon and her family to do a tour of some of the
+Redwood forests. It was a delightful drive with great anticipation of
+the wonders of nature that awaited us in the forests of California.
+However, when we glimpsed the first of the redwoods at a distance, I was
+rather disappointed. From a distance, the forest looked a bit like the
+following photo.
+
+![A picture containing tree, plant, forest, wood Description
+automatically
+generated](md/42_A_Date_with_Eternity_Epilog-media/media/image1.jpeg){width="6.5in"
+height="4.44375in" alt=""}
+
+The forest is a pleasant and beautiful sight, but it didn't seem like it
+was much different from any other forest. After all, we lived in the
+Northwest, where beautiful forest scenes are abundant. What was missing
+was some kind of indicator in the scene that would give our brains an
+appreciation of the scale of these enormous trees. The following photos
+illustrate my point.
+
+![A person and person standing next to a large stone statue Description
+automatically generated with low
+confidence](md/42_A_Date_with_Eternity_Epilog-media/media/image2.jpeg){width="6.5in"
+height="8.666666666666666in" alt=""}
+
+![A picture containing outdoor, tree, ground, rock Description
+automatically
+generated](md/42_A_Date_with_Eternity_Epilog-media/media/image3.jpeg){width="6.5in"
+height="4.875in" alt=""}
+
+When you see Lori and me in the picture, you can see how truly enormous
+these trees are. By comparing the size of our tiny bodies with the
+mighty trunks of the trees, this new perspective creates a significant
+difference in the appreciation of the wonder of the experience.\
+\
+Thus, I hope you can see that perspective is vital to the full
+understanding of what we experience in our lives. To illustrate more
+fully, I'll give you another example.\
+\
+Lori and I celebrated our 40th anniversary on August 26th of this year.
+One of the activities to celebrate the occasion was a trip to the
+Portland temple to do an endowment session together. We were asked to be
+the witness couple in the session. While Lori and I were kneeling side
+by side in the endowment room, it brought back a vivid memory of
+kneeling across the alter from Lori when we were married 40 years
+before. However, this experience now included the perspective added by
+the passing of 40 years of time. I was deeply moved by the appreciation
+I had for 40 years of happiness with Lori by my side. Forty years ago, I
+only had an inkling of what was in store, but I had no real perspective
+to add depth to the experience. At this moment of my life, I had not
+only the eternal perspective brought by the temple session, but also the
+perspective of the passage of 40 years. It was a remarkable realization
+of how important perspective can be.\
+\
+It all boils down to a valuable life lesson. We need to do things often
+to retain a perspective of life that will influence every experience we
+have and decision we make. A view into the eternities can be had daily
+from simple practices like reading the scriptures and praying. I now
+have a new resolve to be better at doing the daily things that keep my
+perspective wide enough to fully appreciate the experiences of each
+day.\
+\
+Now I'll try to wrap up the reason this article is an epilogue to the
+original article. The first article explained how I had a glimpse of the
+nobility and greatness of the soul of the person I was hiking with. Now,
+with the perspective of time and a deeper understanding of eternal
+principles, I more fully realize how fortunate I am to be sharing my
+mortal experience with such a wonderful companion. What was only a
+glimpse has become a certainty that will forever grace my life.