Love story – “happily ever after”

Posted on 30/01/2014 by Joe

“And they all lived happily ever after…”

The majority of stories and the majority of films finish with a happy ending. Some form of adversity is overcome and better times are ahead. When they don’t end this way it can be disturbing – perhaps we even feel a little cheated. We expect things to end well, so when they don’t, the story shocks us and leaves us uncomfortable.

Why do we tell ourselves these “happily ever after” stories? We seem to feel instinctively that obstacles are meant to be overcome. Life is meant to be good and not full of hardship and struggles. Somehow, everything is moving towards what it should be, despite the blips along the way.

Broadly speaking, this echoes the message of the Bible. We have stories with terrible tragedies, loss, trouble, war, death and all the difficult and nasty aspects of life in our world. But, underlying it all, looking beyond it all is the expectation that one day there will be a grand “happily ever after” for the whole world.

So, what is this “happily ever after” that we are looking forward to? Various parts of the Bible portray it in terms of cosmic renewal – like a new creation. It is something that follows judgement and is to last forever. But, what will it look like?

We might want to be given a precise account of what the future life after resurrection will hold, but we don’t get one. The pictures of peace and prosperity are painted using imagery familiar to those of the ancient world – almost an idealised version of what their life looked like. Not surprisingly, when we start guessing we also portray an idealised version of our own life now.

The picture of “heaven” is blurry – it doesn’t offer a clear view, but just a teaser. It entices us, but not enough is revealed for us to be sure how things will be. There seems to be something more important at stake than describing a renewed physical world; heaven is more important than this, it seems. So, what is at the heart of it all?

Behind the lack of detail of the place where we will be, what we will look like and do, etc. is a more fundamental “happily ever after”, which is at the core of all our future hope. At the heart of all of this, what matters most, what we are most looking forward to is not just a new world order; we are waiting for a person. We wait for God. We yearn for God. That is what salvation is really all about – not just a pretty, peaceful world, but being with our God.

The restlessness of every human heart will be met when we are with God, when our Saviour comes to us. We don’t just trust in God so that we can enjoy certain gifts, we trust because we want to enjoy the presence of the Giver Himself.

In many films and books we find powerful love stories where two people overcome adversity in order to be together. Perhaps the setting may be a war, where one of them has had to go overseas. They are kept apart, given only fleeting reminders through the letters they send.

The lovers wait, they yearn for one another. They want to be together again, but will they both make it? Through twists and turns the story takes them, temptations to give up arise along the way – possible new loves come and go. They hold fast, trusting that in the end they will live together happily ever after. In a way, the final destination, the final place where they are to live isn’t really important. Their love is what matters.

Could this be your story? Could this be our story – the story of God and His people? Could this be the ultimate love story? If so, we can look forward without fear, knowing that we will live happily ever after, knowing that in many ways the place and details are immaterial.

On Broken Wings

Posted on 20/09/2013 by Joe

Damaged Peacock Butterfly

“Damaged goods”, “shop soiled”, “incomplete item” – these are all phrases that speak negatively of things, suggesting that most will now pass them by and their value has been reduced. Sadly, “damaged goods” and other such phrases might even be used pejoratively and selectively by a few to describe certain types of people. Are they of lesser value and to be passed by?

Many might refuse to buy anything that isn’t perfect. However, there are some who perhaps relish the challenge of taking a slightly damaged item and making it whole again, seeing its potential despite the surface appearance. Yes, this demands more work, but the end result brings satisfaction.

How do we view those on the edges of society, whether they be racial minorities, “disabled” people, the homeless, poor or others? Do we think that only they are damaged or that they are to be passed by? The truth is that all of us are in some way “damaged”. We are not perfect. The question is, can we see the potential, the latent beauty in each other as well as the scars and wounds? Are we aware of our own brokenness?

The damaged peacock butterfly above still retains much of its beauty. It can still fly, but it must do so on broken wings. Some of us might learn ways of hiding our scars, others wear them clearly visible, perhaps with no choice but for others to see our weaknesses. Sometimes we receive new wounds, new weaknesses that mean we must once again learn to fly, this time with even weaker wings than before.

God doesn’t pass any of us by, no matter how “damaged” we might be. None are left on the shelf, too far beyond repair. God in His love relishes the challenge of rebuilding us, making us whole and bringing out that latent potential and inner beauty. Our broken wings will one day be restored so that we can truly fly as we were meant to.

Yet, God does not just expect to be left to do the healing work all on His own. We can be channels of healing for others, bringing them off the shelf to God rather than waiting for Him to go to them. We can choose to believe that these damaged souls can still fly, albeit on broken wings for the time being. We can choose to stop and see their beauty and potential. Nobody should be passed over. After all, God has chosen to take care of us and we are no less damaged and in need of repair than anyone else.

Responding to Creation

Posted on 09/08/2013 by Joe

Do you feel a connection with God through nature? Does creation move you to prayer or praise?

Throughout history, many people have found a sense of God’s presence when they look upon the beauty of nature. It is something that can evoke profound emotions and some find it easier to connect with and praise God out in nature than they do in church.

There are various Psalms that praise God as creator and it is not unlikely that the writer would have been either looking at or thinking about the wonders of the world around them at the time. For example, Psalm 8 looks out at the vastness of the skies and the stars in space, whilst Psalm 148 calls upon all of creation to point to their creator in praise.

In the book of Romans, Paul says that creation reveals something of God’s character and power if only we have eyes to see it. God’s fingerprints, so to speak, are all over what God has made.

Some Celtic Christians found certain beauty spots to be so conducive to praise and meeting with God that they labelled them “thin places” – where the boundary between earth and heaven seems “thinner” than elsewhere.

The prayer in the image above is in German and it is placed at a point where people can look out over the Bodensee (lake of Constance). It is a prayer that has sprung out of someone’s heart in response to the beauty of that lake. They recognised God as the One who not only made it, but who also sustains it.

Is this a tradition of Christian spirituality that you relate to? When was the last time you felt close to God through nature?

Perhaps at times we are so busy driving or walking to where we want to go that we don’t take in what is all around us. Over the next few days, why not take just a few minutes to sit and take in something of God’s creation? Perhaps watch a sunset or look closely at some flowers. Maybe you will find that your soul will also sing “how great Thou art” along with the hymn-writer (Stuart Hine) as you gaze upon what God has made.

Image © Original Art Photography By Joe Lenton 2013 – www.originalartphotography.co.uk

Journeying With Scripture – Part Two – Use Your Imagination

Posted on 17/07/2013 by Joe

What is imagination? Can/should we use it when reading the Bible? This post is the second in a series about “Journeying with Scripture”. It is an opportunity to explore further how and why we read the Bible. It will also uncover some of the thinking behind the Bible study books “Journeying With Abraham” and “Journeying With Nehemiah” and how they might differ from other approaches.

For some, “imagination” might seem to refer to fiction or ideas that have simply been made up as opposed to “reality” or “truth”. Christianity accepts that God needs to reveal Himself to us for us to have any grasp of who God really is. So, isn’t using the imagination resorting to making up our own ideas about God?

If we were starting from a position of no revelation or choosing to ignore all revelation of any kind then imagination would risk being nothing but a human construct, fabricating its own “god” in whatever image suited us. However, we don’t start from a position of no revelation or encounter between God and us. God has spoken and revealed Himself. But, isn’t the use of our imagination still liable to undermine that revelation?

When God reveals Himself to us, it is done in ways that we can at least partially comprehend. Yet, so much of this revelation falls short of the fullness of who God is. For example, God is not a man – so Jesus both reveals God to us and at the same time can’t reveal everything. God in all fullness is beyond our capacity to understand.

Much of the understanding we do have utilises metaphors (e.g. God as Father, Rock, Fortress, etc.). Metaphors encourage the use of the imagination. They put two things together and invite us to explore the resulting picture. An act of the imagination is required to connect the two – metaphors are by their nature not usually completely literal or logical. Yes, they may engage our rational faculties, but they also require creative thinking.

Creative thought is an essential part of being human; it is how we solve problems. Scientific research and discovery may appear to be totally absorbed with rational thought, yet it too requires leaps of the imagination. We imagine a solution beyond our current position and this helps guide our endeavours. We imagine new possibilities and then begin to create them.

Empathy is understandably a highly prized characteristic. Like creativity, it demands (whether consciously or otherwise) acts of imagination. We see circumstances, relate them to our own experiences and imagine assumed connections. Often these connections are absolutely correct. So, the imagination is not simply for creating an artificial reality or lies, but for helping us perceive truth.

When it comes to reading Scripture, empathy is a useful skill to have. It can enable us to enter into stories and begin to understand why people react the way they do. This is not just true of narratives, where we might sympathise or empathise with the main character or other players in the text. It can also help make sense of letters and Psalms, for example. If we can in some sense discern why Paul is upset or frustrated or why the Psalmist is singing for joy, then this helps us to connect with the text for ourselves.

Empathy may also help us to discern the unusual or unexpected turns in a story. If we can imagine how a character would probably have felt or wanted to react, then maybe the fact that they don’t do so becomes more apparent and hits home more. We can sometimes perceive more clearly what it is that is unusual about the person or story and what we might learn from them.

Imagination is also important when it comes to our future hope. None of us has seen what is beyond this life, nor does the Bible give detailed, clear descriptions of life after death. But, our imagination, which extrapolates from the data we do have, can help us perceive that which our faith then clings on to. The little snippets that Scripture does give us about resurrection and the life beyond are sufficient to fire our imaginations and kindle hope.

None of this means that imagination is an infallible tool. It can go wrong – we can imagine things which are unhelpful and not true. However, rational, logical thought can also lead us up blind alleys or down into the dark as well as out into the light. Imagination is not an inferior part of who we are. It can be used together with other skills to help us grow towards the truth.

If imagination is so closely linked to creativity, then it wouldn’t be all that surprising if in some sense God wants us to know Him through our imagination. It may be that the ideas, the possibilities we imagine are planted in us by God. After all, surely it is only someone who can imagine a better world that works towards one?

How about you? What role does your imagination play in your life of faith? Do you see a need to listen to your imagination or do you mistrust it?

Going Deeper With God

Providing tools to help you grow

Love story – “happily ever after”

On Broken Wings

Responding to Creation

Journeying With Scripture – Part Two – Use Your Imagination