"Life isn't easy
Love never lasts
You just carry on
And keep moving fast"
From 'Cry Like A Rainstorm' by Linda Ronstadt.
It's pretty easy these days to despair - both on a personal and social level - about the state of life on this world. Everyday brings yet more stories of misery, pain, woe and despair. It seems that everyone is either enveloped in such hurt or moving as fast as they can in 'eat, drink and be merry' mode to try and keep away from it, but life tugs us into trial whatever we do. If it's not happening to us personally right now, it's happening to someone close. Sit down with most people for a couple of minutes who want to talk, and you'll be stunned by what most of us carry on our backs most of the time...we really are a race standing on the cliff edge with a gale rising behind.
It's easy for us, especially when in pain, to be spiteful about such a plight - we can all to easily become a mob all wanting to scramble higher - but we know that's not the answer. In those moments when life is kinder, we reveal another side to what it means to be human - one marked by care, affection, and a delight in all that is genuinely good - that is what resides beneath the 'rags' of our more "burnt out" experiences.
In a world slashed and torn by the wound of sin, it's important we understand that the pearls of our experience (some of which are forged and honed by the very pain we know) are of eternal value, for they indeed speak of a life we are meant to know - forever.
When Christ looked upon the mass of the 'walking wounded' (you and me), He felt compassion for us - a love that had brought God here as man to live and die to show that there is more, far more to life than we often comprehend amidst the mire. Christ implores us to look up, to look through those moments of wonder and beauty we encounter to see the one behind such marvels and realize that there is an answer to the bleakness - a solution which will result in a new creation, where all of life is marked by grace and peace.
In those moments when you sense awe in your soul, pause and reflect on this.
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1 comment:
Howard,
A beautiful and poignant lifting of the veneer.
You have described what is just under the surface for all of us that have been on this earth at least 12 years. (It's there for the little ones too, but we try to shield them as much as possible until reality can no longer be contained.)
As you point out, the pain and sorrow does not have the last word. Because of the work that Jesus has done for us, our sufferings are for just a little while.
Thanks Howard.
- Steve
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