NO MORE TO FEAR

"I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world's finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, of all the blood the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened." - Dostoevsky

A friend found out that she only has a certain number of years to live. Eternity makes a bold claim. Eternity claims all of us. All truth will there be told. And eternity will at that point not appear long enough to hear the words that come from the mouth that speaks only Truth. Paul writes, "if we only hope in this life, we are to be the most pitied men." Do not pity me. I believe that one day the sun that sets in this world will not rise. It will be replaced by Him who is light. All darkness will flee. There will be no need for metaphor or imagery. All will be real. The songs that we have only heard distant strains of, as if always coming from behind a far off hill, will erupt and be in full view. This future glory has not diminished my joy now or made me "otherworldly" in the pitiful definition of the term. I am only otherworldly in the extent that I really am otherworldly. One old writer wrote that physical hunger reveals that we are a race of people that repairs itself by eating. This does not guarantee that we will have food, but that we need it. Lewis called this his "inconsolable longing" or "joy." Joy is not always gratified, but it is the desire that lies in the deepest churning of our existence. Earth promises no completion, and in heaven we find consummation. Indeed what keeps my feet most firmly planted on this earthen surface is the anchoring "weight of glory" that only increases as the day approaches that all will be revealed. In Romans 8 we see all creation in expectations. Wait too. Be still, and know that He is God. Worship. This is our present joy and our eternal glory. "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive glory, honor, power, and praise forever!"

Spent the day in Bainbridge Island with a few friends today. Running in parks, eating beside the water, taking every advantage of a sunny Presidents Day. Applied for Fuller Theological Seminary (Northwest Campus). Cooked dinner for the parents. Prayer.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, and may He cause His face to shine upon you...