Monday, July 14, 2008

Mere Dreaming? Or something else....

Somethimes when I think about my upcoming trip to Israel, I can't even believe it will be happening. It's too good to be true. Other times, I wonder if I must be crazy or something. My relatives seem to think so.

But a few days ago I stumbled upon a post by a new favorite blogger, Kath Arnold, that simply blew my mind. What a refreshing reminder! A reminder of what counts. Of what is real.

But read it for yourself, and be encouraged!


"Yes, once again I am ‘borrowing’ the internet from my old house, it’s very kind of them. And once again I feel the need to write something on this screen. Mainly to vent a few thoughts I’ve had in the last couple of days. These thoughts fall neatly into one sentence: Heaven had better be real. It affects everything. If there is no resurrection, if there is no world better than this one, if there is no reason to live beyond myself then all the decisions I and my mates are making right now are stupid ones. It makes no sense for my brother to head half way around the world, it makes no sense for one of my best mates to be in Ethiopia, it makes no sense for me to have left a brilliant place and lovely people and have moved out. And there is more, it makes no sense for me to have spent all my 20s doing jobs that pay little money in the belief that eternity matters more than right now. It makes no sense for me to have not spent time seeking to build perfection here (alright I have spent lots of time trying to do that but it hasn’t really worked out…), it makes no sense for me to be moving in with 3 other people, 2 of which I don’t know all that well and trying to be family with them.

If Christ has not been raised we are to be pitied more than all people. Why? Because these decisions are utterly foolish if there isn’t more to this world than all we can see, taste, hear, smell and touch.

7And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.


Phew. And so we carry on. I’ll carry on waiting for the dust to settle on my emotions and my random headspace right now. We’ll carry on working through the hard sorting out stuff of moving and trust that Someone else has schemes and plans that we can only wonder about. We are just creatures in the hands of One who really does know better than us. Mere dreaming? Or the result of an empty tomb 2000 years ago…?"