We Christians dress up existence to look better than it is. We cast a kinder, more flattering light upon it. Jesus is the lens through which we look at everything, and so we see hope even in hopeless situations. We say that because we are loved by The Creator of the Universe we can be confident, strong, loving in our turn. We claim that even the certainty of death needn’t drain our hope, because there is life beyond this one.
None of this is apparent to the skeptical eye. This is a different kind of seeing. The skeptics say we’re fooling ourselves, and who can prove beyond doubt they’re wrong? But it is all we have. If we are to survive here, we dare not see in any other way. That is what faith is, and what faith requires.
And so we peer into the haze, trying to make out what cannot quite be seen: the full scope of existence, life and beyond life, time and eternity, scientific certainties as well as those things we can only hope for. We describe it all as more beautiful, more just and principled, more protected and cared for, than it appears to be. We declare it all redeemable, life a benison even when it is painful, people dear and well-intentioned even when they are hurtful.
And we say—we even act as if—that at the end of all of this, God will make everything right.
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Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But He made something beautiful of my life.
(—Bill and Gloria Gaither)
^{aboVe
< http://www.spectrummagazine.org/articles/column/2010/02/20/learning_see >
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TheRe iS oNLy oNe thiNg thaT wiLL LasT FoReVeR aNd thaT iS GOD'S LOVE †
THanK YOU LORD !
