Suggested Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21, Psalm 126, Philippians 3:4b-14, John 12:1-8
The Bible is filled with stories and accounts of ages that look increasingly similar to ours, with equal nuance, tension, and balance. Existing simultaneously are war, weddings, occupation, new babies, oppression, rescue, famine, feasting, hungry lions, bird watching, floods, early morning fishing, earthquakes, harvesting… It seems we’ve always been a weary, confused, often frightened collection of creatures who cling desperately to the promise that God can and will provide healing and restoration in such measure that the joy of his blessing and redemption is all we will really know to be true.
As a librarian, I’m often asked what my favorite book is, and I always say The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. There is a part of the book where both heaven and hell are described as working backwards; that for those who choose to believe in new things, and rivers in the desert, and the saving grace of Christ’s sacrifice, they will one day speak truly when they say they always experienced heaven. Paul says that his participation in the kingdom of heaven has already given him glimpses of this promise fulfilled, saying that so much of what was dead and barren in his life was being renewed in the fullness of resurrection. It wasn’t that these elements of Paul’s life were suddenly gone or forgotten, but rather “[took] on the quality of Heaven” when viewed through the lens of the gospel. Lewis’ friend Tolkein would probably say Paul was starting to see every sad thing becoming untrue.
While we spend this season contemplating how our humanity intersects with the divine, there is certainly a lot about our experience that will continue to weary, confuse, and frighten us. My prayer for all of us is that we can continue to be sustained by the everyday miracles, and pay attention to all the new ways God is flooding our lives with restoration and healing, until “on earth as it is in heaven” is the only experience we know to be true.
Britt Mountford
