Living In Light of Eternity (Gridblog entry)

I want to live my life in the light of eternity. I’d like the shine of eternity to be bright enough in my mind that it filters how I see each day. I want to work on things that will last. I want to build things that time won’t erode. I want to invest in things that don’t go away when I do.

Sounds lofty eh?

Thankfully I’ve been given a lot of help. I’ve got these Post-it notes on my heart that remind me that I’m alive in the “time between,” between the garden of Eden and the garden of Heaven - those captivating places of connection, unity and completeness - those places where nature and human nature work in rhythm as God intended. In this “time between”, the connection I was made for (with God, others and creation) has been short-circuited and I find myself longing and restless. In those rare times of solitude and moments when I am “un-busy,” I find myself more and more aware of a void in my soul and more and more clingy to a hope that one day I will arrive at a place of wholeness. 

Until then, I am learning to allow the loneliness and emptiness to remind me that I am not home… yet.

I am learning to see each ache as a cue. Every wrinkle is a pointer. Each sore knee is a prompting. When I look in the mirror and see that my body mass is steadily moving from the poles to the equator I take comfort in knowing that I am more than physical!  When I’m brushed up next to cancer, Alzheimer’s, funerals, good-byes, band-aids and aging it sinks in once more that my time on this earth is a journey – I have a destination.

I’m learning to exercise my hope, aware that my relationship fumbles and wipeouts are painful clues that something isn’t the way it was intended. My struggles with meaning, loneliness and depression are souvenirs of my between-the- gardens journey.  Because I often miss the message revealed in an agitated creation and a messed up kingdom of this world, the Creator gets up close and whispers right into my body and spirit and mind that there is more to this Life than this life.

I am learning to hear echoes, sniff aromas and see glimpses. As I get older I get emotional quicker at what seem to me to be unusual times.  I’m turning into my crying Dad, who is turning into his weeping Dad. Tears come to my eyes at the strangest times and I wonder why.

I cry as I watch my daughter laugh with freedom and joy and part of my heart aches. Yes, I am overcome with love with her; Yes, I’m a proud Daddy; Yes, the scene makes me marvel and wonder. But deeper still I realize that I am overcome because in that moment my ears have been opened and I am hearing an echo of a symphony that I was created to hear. More than that, it is a symphony that I  was created to dance to and sing with and help create – and at the same time it always seems just out of my grasp, unfinished and hanging. I savor the ringing in my ears but it fades quickly.

Aches, aging, smells, echoes and visions - shining eternity into this day, helping me live.

Comments

[Erik]

Billiant Steve!!! Your spirit is extremly inspiring and it is an honor to serve with you in God's light. Great Job today with 'Desperate for God' Too!

[Rebecca McMillan]

Hey, well written. Glad I'm doing life with you in the 'time between' the two gardens.

p.s. When do you start paying me commission for all my great photos that you post on your blog??? hee hee ;)

the wife

[Mom]

You amaze me, Son. Well written. LOve Mom

[Mrs.Dee]

You just blessed "a little old missionary lady" in Brazil! Thank you!

How did I land on your airstrip? Well, having just come from my First Appointment, I was thinking of how our Gracious Lord has placed eternity in our hearts...

So when I sat down at this Mixed Blessing, I googled "living in the light of eternity"...and presto! I meet a fellow-pilgrim! Thank You, Lord. And thank you, ???
Can't seem to find your name...

Anyhoo, God bless you, as you use your gift to praise Him and point others to Him. Can't WAIT to get to Heaven and meet Him face to face, can you?!

Yours to see Him glorified, in your life and mine,
Mrs.Dee

p.s. Why "Mrs. Dee"? Well, that's what my younger friends call me. You see, my Luv and I have been serving Him here in Brazil for almost 40 years, can you believe it?! We're officially "retired" but He still deigns to use us here...

[Janae]

Like Mrs. Dee above, I landed upon your blog while searching the phrase "living in light of eternity. We have two daughters whom I have spent the past year and a half planning weddings nine months apart from one another. The last was just this past Friday a week ago. I home schooled them both, have been blessed with close ties with them both and now they are two and four hours away.
Thank you for sharing your heart and allowing me a peek into the hearts cry that echo's and brings both comfort and confirmation. So now what???.... That is a cry of anticipation.... not complaint... though I cannot deny the ache.
God bless you and yours.

[Abimbola]

Hi, got yr post as i searched the topic. have been pondering what to share in a group meeting and the Holy Spirit laid it on my mind. Eternity is truly in our hearts, only if we can live each day at a time. keeping eternity in focus should be a vital part of our daily living, despites all the aches, worries, sorrows, joy, blessings and beauty that life may bring our way. remain blessed my dearly beloved, and may His mercy keep and preserve us until we land on the heavenly garden.