On Sunday night, Kim ended our prayer time by saying something like this:
"God, you made us as eternal beings. We aren't meant to have to say goodbye. Help us to see that this goodbye reveals who we truly are as we look forward to the time when we won't ever have to say goodbye again."
I'm feeling very "goodbye" this week. The people around me are the wrong people. The food I'm eating is the wrong food. The house I'm in is the wrong house. In a week or two I will once more appreciate Dallas and the friends, kids, and places here. But I will still miss the Senegal reunion, because it is with them that I feel most like myself.
Kim talking about our weekend as a precursor to eternity got me thinking. I've never really subscribed to eternity as playing harps on a cloud, but I think I did cling to some kind of majestic vision. Now I've got a picture of eternity as resting my head on someone's shoulder, of telling stories that make people laugh, of spontaneously deciding to go out for a delicious snack. There will be picture taking and hugging and lots and lots of laughter. We will all be free to be who we are, the embarrassing habits no longer embarrassing, love and acceptance free.
Of course, I don't know if there will be cameras or Sonics in eternity. But I think the underlying emotions of this past weekend are exactly correct. Friendship, fellowship, fun and worship mixing together in conversations and prayers and songs.
C.S. Lewis talked about his painful visions of joy, of these perfect glimpses of what ought to be, and how devastating it was not to have that all the time. He concluded that "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." I long for friendships that do not require a goodbye, and my hope in Christ is that my longing will be realized in the world He is preparing.
Tricia, just to stimulate your thinking about heaven, try reading Mark Twain's "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven". Stormfield was a crusty old sea captain who died, and on his way to heaven he raced a comet and ended up at the wrong gate in heaven. His experiences there will really make you rethink your view of eternity. Twain was at best an agnostic, and he punches a lot of holes in our childish view of harps and wings and singing and golden streets. This is good stuff. And it won't have any negative impact on your faith, it'll just make you think a little more.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really interesting! I've put it on hold at the library. :)
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