God's been speaking to me about death a lot lately, in funny ways. An article cited below, a song called Prospekt's March by Coldplay, a song by my friend Micah, and a funny book called "All my friends are dead" that you can find in any Urban Outfitters window, to name a few. Either way, death is on its way for all of us, and we never know when it will come. I love that line in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the Tale of the Three Brothers: "Ignotus then greeted Death as an old friend, and together they departed this world as equals." Is Death really an old friend, and if so, how?
How can the Christian long for heaven and yet be content here? How can I enjoy what God has given me on earth without being adulterous with the world? After all, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:25). Am I supposed to hate my life?
I do think many believers have too much of a love affair with the world. It's what keeps us from being absolutely insane for Jesus. However, does Jesus mean we're supposed to mope around and wish we were dead? There are moments when I truly want to forsake this world and be in heaven with Christ, because the world is being unkind to me...but most of the time I enjoy living, even as I realize that the next life will be infinitely better. And I think that's how it's supposed to be.
To avoid having a love affair with the world, we have to learn to see the things we enjoy as tiny glimpses of heaven, not things that are inherently of the world. I think God is teaching me that. It's easy to love the world too much and Christ too little when life is going well. On the flip side, when life is going terribly, it's easy to complain and wonder why we still have to be here and why Christ hasn't rescued us yet. Simplicity is the answer. If we decide we will only love Christ - and I mean only love Christ - then we will naturally adore the things that are of Him (yes, even the material things) and hate the things that are against Him.
Once we are born again, our home becomes elsewhere. It's almost as if we were born in heaven and then sent here for a while, only to return at the end of our lives. Imagine your real-life home, with its comforts and pleasures and delicious smells. Now imagine that you were to go on a trip with a ridiculously important mission for a long time, unable to return home until that mission was completed. The sweetest moments would be the times you were reminded of your home, the place where you can be truly comfortable and completely yourself. I think our moments of joy and satisfaction here on earth are just glimpses of our real home. Of course I mean things like food and laughter...but I even mean more intense things like music and romance and sex. God would not create something on earth that is better than heaven, or that is more satisfying than Him. Nothing could be better than heaven. And that is why when we do finish the race, we can greet death as an old, long-expected friend...no matter when it "interrupts" us on our journey.
"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away." Psalm 39:4 (The man after God's own heart knew that we need this reminder to keep us loving only God and nothing else...for if we love anything else, this reminder will only make us panic and despair. But if we love only Christ, it makes no difference if we live or die.)
However, in the short meantime, I am thankful for every moment of my life. Father gives me so many glimpses of heaven that sometimes I can't hold it in and have to start laughing. If these mere shadows of the joy to come can overwhelm me, I can't even imagine how satisfied my soul will be one day.
As an example, I love my city. While Austin is not my home, Father has given me many people and moments that remind me of my true home. I love "dates with the city," as Carrie Bradshaw from
Sex and the City would say. I don't consider her a role model, but I definitely understand what she means on that one episode when she talks about going on dates with New York City. I have dates with Austin all the time.
I love the trailer food craze for so many reasons. I love local business and family-owned business, and I love how the quaint atmosphere encourages making new friends as you eat, not to mention making friends with the trailer owners themselves. Last night my friend and I got Moroccan food at a trailer called The Flying Carpet. Since my friend is Moroccan, the man who runs the trailer loved talking to her. He was so friendly and laughed a lot, and his wife and son were also there. His son was so cute, running around and playing. We got some of the food on the house, and we continued talking to the family as we waited and ate. It felt like we were in a small town and had known these people for a long time. His wife, who is Mexican, joked that her son is "Moroxican" and was so kind to us. By the way, the food was PERFECT...absolutely delicious.
It was freezing cold outside. As we walked by Guero's, there was a live Mexican band playing with an accordion. There was a nice outdoor heater on the sidewalk, and the cold of course did not affect the line at Amy's Ice Creams. The atmosphere was just beautiful.
Then we went to a cute place called "Snack Bar" and got hot chocolate. It was delicious, but I'd forgotten to ask for whipped cream. As my friend and I sat there a while talking and watching some weird '80s movie in the background, the waitress brought me another hot chocolate on the house. With whipped cream.
I was so happy. Seriously, count all the little pleasures: the joy of the unexpected, community, unity between cultures, music, delicious food, familial love, warmth, the good kind of cold, generosity...I saw all these truly heavenly things in a simple night outing. Each moment was orchestrated by my Father, just to give me a taste of home.
God created the wonderful things in the material world to point us to heaven. It is not wrong to enjoy them. It is wrong to worship them. As C.S. Lewis writes, "Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."
Right now, life is pretty good. But there will be moments, and have been moments, when I long for my home so much it hurts. Each stage of life is a blessing. The moments of contentment and happiness give us just the tiniest taste of heaven, but the times when the world completely forsakes us provide a beautiful bittersweet joy as we look forward to Christ's return. Some of my most intimate moments with Christ have been when I felt so overcome by pain that I didn't even want to wake up in the morning, but that's when His power was most evident as He carried me through the day. What's amazing is that even in our pain, we can receive glimpses of heaven as He reminds us just how perfect He is.
"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.'" Revelation 21:1-4
I can't wait until He returns. These glimpses will be ours for eternity.
Inspired by articles on RelevantMagazine.com called "Everyone Wants to Go to Heaven, Just Not Yet" and "A More Materialistic Christmas."
