The ultimate achievement of Christ Jesus' life was ascension. Since he is mankind's total Way-shower, ascension should be our goal, too. It can and must be achieved, whether here or hereafter.
Ascension may seem to be a difficult and distant goal. Certainly no one is going to attain it with one surge of purity, no matter how grand that purification is. Ascension requires steadfast daily yielding to the Christ, Truth, and sacrificing the material sense of ourselves and all others.
Our yielding and sacrifice are easier when we have an immediate, daily goal as well as a distant one. This daily goal is not some complicated formula. It is simply the way to ascension, and that way is holiness, or true righteousness. When Martha objected because her sister had set aside household chores to reach out for holiness through Christ Jesus' teaching, he gently said, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41, 42.
