There are the people who believe in unicorns and then there is everybody else. I feel very sorry for the latter, for they have no hope, nothing to search for, no reason to 'be.' There are no rainbows, fairies, or magic in their dull, grey world that goes on straight and unswerving to the drab horizon. It is much like a modern novel in which all sense of plot, adventure, character, and virtue have died. Of course I do not mean that one must literally believe in unicorns, but rather that one has dreams, hopes, an imagination, a sense of wonder and anticipation about the world about us, a certainty that anything might happen in this 'ordinary' world we take so much for granted. This is the zest of living today and forever. It is seeing a sunrise and wondering what miracles might happen today, what beauty lies in the hours to come, rather than ignoring the glaring rays as we gulp down our morning coffee and rush out the door to sit in traffic only to sit endlessly at a windowless desk and return home to sit in front of a loud and vulgar entertainment device before going to bed and starting all over on the morrow. How can we be content to merely survive and plod on day in and day out, simply putting in our required time in this meaningless drudgery called life when deep down we long, 'to take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea?"
Our whole culture seems intent on stifling this native joy in living. We have pills of every variety guaranteed to numb or cure any malady. We have diversions galore to render our dreams pointless. We have countless virtual friends to replace those demanding real ones. If your 'real' life is drab, invent a whole new existence in the technosphere! Don't like the spouse and kids? Dump them and start all over...no problem, no guilt! Feeling old? We have a supplement or surgery for that! It is all about how others perceive us and how we want to perceive ourselves rather than being what and who we really are. All these diversions and quick fixes cannot cure purification of the soul, which is the real malady afflicting every member of the human race.
We have this idea that our bodies should live forever when it is in fact our souls that go on when our frail flesh gives out. We do everything in our power to feel young, beautiful, popular, rich, powerful or whatever our mortal desires might be but we cannot fight against the inevitable march of time and decay. We cannot find joy in the temporal but only in those things that last forever. We must learn to cultivate and beautify our souls, to sow gardens that will bear fruit in a timeless morning. We can ever be young at heart, to have young and beautiful souls rather than trying to patch up a slowly decaying body that must one day inevitably die.
Wanting to live forever is implanted in our souls (Ecclesiastes 3:11), it is as natural as breathing. Wanting to live forever as a teenage super model is absolutely ridiculous. God wants us to grow, to mature, to gain wisdom, and live justly with charity and kindness and patience. These are the things that last forever, not fame, fortune, or power. These are beauties that will never fade with age but grow more wondrous within time and beyond it. But first we must remember that we have souls and that we do not merely exist as an accident of space and time. We have a future, a purpose, a hope, a joy that knows no bounds, but we need to abandon all those worthless things the world deems of value but which block out access to true joy. We need to start believing in unicorns again. We need to live as if this life is not all there is. Little children know the secret as does He who calls them to Himself. As He calls each of us. But will we listen or continue the dreadful plod.
Luke 9:23-25 (ESV): And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
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