c.s. lewis talked about nostalgia as an indicator of yearnings for eternity. he explained that a longing for home, or for a thing of our past, is really just pointing to the desire we all possess for the "knowing in full" that heaven affords. i stumbled on a terrific expression of this in great expectations. the below excerpt is about literal/earthly travel homeward, but i like the parallels for we who are making a pilgrimage heavenward. and how can you not love dickens!
"the june sky was blue, the larks were soaring high over the green corn. i thought that countryside more beautiful & peaceful by far than i had ever known it to be yet... they awakened a tender emotion in me, for my heart was softened by my return, and such a change had come to pass that i felt like one who was toiling home barefoot from distant travel, whose wanderings had lasted many years."
"by faith, abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. by faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did isaac and jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ...[he] admitted [he] was a foreigner and stranger on earth. people who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. they long for a better country—a heavenly one" (hebrews 11:8-16).
"blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage" (psalm 84:5).
Ahhh, this is the best of the best, my D. God has given you such a beautiful mind for seeing Truth in all the toils of man. Thank you for sharing. I love this post.
ReplyDeletejust now reading this. timely as I'm trudging through the end of Pilgrims Progress. Loved how it brought one theme from three sources for me. well said.
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