Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...
-Hebrews 12:2
I have always sought to figure life out... I guess we all do, but for me this whole thing has always appeared to be like a puzzle, one of those 3-dimensional ones, with about a million jagged pieces. Consequently, I thought that if I could find the appropriate matches for each portion that it might start to all come together...each blob would build upon another to form something definite. Something polished. Life then, was a problem to be solved... and one that could be.
Perhaps this still rings true to an extent, in that there are truths once realized and applied, will provide a more vivid picture of what life is all about and how we might best go about enduring it. But what I'm learning to accept is that it will never come together like one of those cardboard castles, where every piece is used for the very purpose it was designed...and once finished looks just like the picture on the box... No, life is messier than that... through the building process, we will spill our coffee and ruin some of the parts, we'll lose others in the mysterious black hole that exists between couch cushions and some pieces that should interlock, just won't...and often at least in my life, entire sections that we thought were completed will have to be torn down to rubble...and it will hurt and the reconstruction will be slow and uncomfortable.
In the end, we'll have lop sided structures with holes in the walls, doors held in with scotch tape and entire wings will have gone missing... and perhaps this the best we can hope for...that something, anything at all is standing above ground when it is finished... when we have endured the long, arduous journey through the desert. And yet somehow, the promise remains that one day we will be perfected...
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
- 1 Corinthians 13:12
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2 comments:
a small bit to add to your already great blog..
a while back, my wife was complaining about her bug bitten legs and sun burns and i told her that imperfection was just a misunderstanding.. maybe its the fact that life isnt easy and that the puzzle is messy which makes life so perfect.. we misunderstand the truth that the messes of life are necessary to build character and reveal impurity which results in a restoration to perfection.. the way god meant for us to be..
Vaka,
It is as you say, at least within our reality and imperfect state, we pretty much need the messes and difficulties to help steer us to God... I guess it goes back to the original sin and the curse that followed in Genesis. And as you say there is beauty in that even through the crud of life we can become perfected by Christ.
I think it's also important to note that it may simply be ok for us as believers to find discontentment to an extent.
When I experience a broken relationship it tells me again that life is far from the way it will one day be...and I think of heaven.
I think there's a misnomer within the church that tells us we need to be thrilled with life just as it is...but the bible says the world waits in eager anticipation for the next chapter...the great restoration. Pascal called it a "divine discontent."
And I could go on and on about Hebrews 11... Anyway, i'm getting ahead of myself....thank you for your thoughtful input, which is always appreciated and always adding to the discussion!
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