Have you ever watched an amazing nature scene on TV or in a movie and wished you could jump right into the picture? Or perhaps you’ve actually been in a marvelous place filled with wonder and beauty, but found that you wanted to interact with the environment in an even richer manner. We see the sunshine and feel its warmth and yet walk into the house and have lost it already. We revel in the beauty of the colors of the earth, their textures and sounds, yet we do not become entwined with them. We remain partly in and partly out of the scene.

That is a bit like our participation of so much of life.
“At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see.” C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

We experience some happiness but find lasting joy, that contentment with the fullness of life, so evasive. We work hard, enduring much drudgery and stress, so as to attain a few moments or a day of rest. We play hard when we have a chance but miss the power of quiet moments of celebration that restore us. It has been said that we worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship, delegating the latter to an hour a week.

But be encouraged, there is an answer to our dilemma and faith is the key to opening the door so we can see the other side. We know that faith allows us to see the end of this life and at least a faint image of the next. That time when we will be filled with the glory of God to a degree not fully experienced here in these mortal and temporary bodies. We will not just be spectators, but will participate fully in the wonder of the glory of the Lord. What an eternal day of rejoicing that will be! Now we hurt and grieve but then there will be no more tears, no more sorrow. Now we play with childish games but then we will pick up joy that satisfies completely.

Can you allow this image to guard your heart and mind even now? Yes, we are perhaps on the ‘wrong’ side of the door to experience it fully. But a faith that grows such vision brings great hope for the present moment too. More on this, ‘heaven on earth,’ in tomorrow’s post. For the time being, reward yourself with a quiet moment to contemplate the wonder of being in the presence of God. He wills it and invites you to have such hope.