Longings

C.S. Lewis once said that if we find in ourselves a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, then chances are we were made for another world. It is true that while our world has many real pleasures, they are inevitably passing. And they coexist with pain and suffering that doesn’t negate the pleasures but certainly casts some sort of shadow over them.

Lewis says that these earthly pleasures are a kind of copy or echo or mirage of the deeper and more permanent pleasures of what he calls ‘my true country’. The earthly pleasures do not ultimately satisfy all our longings but arouse them in such a way as to point to the real thing.

So followers of Jesus do not despise this life or turn their back on its very real delights. But nor do they assume these delights are all there is. Nor do they forget that despair commingles with delight. This present world in its present shape may not be our true home but we live in it and make the most of it.

As our passage reminds us, our grasp of this life is partial just as our grasp of the life to come is shrouded to a degree. We live creatively and boldly in this life with all its limitations. We look forward to new life in the new heavens and new earth where there will be no limitations and no longings. All will have been fulfilled.

Blessings
David Reay