Good Morning, World!

This summer I’ve been expanding my reading horizons, trying to read books that challenge me. I usually try that every summer….last year was Anna Karenina and The Screwtape Letters. Sound like fun? Boy, have I a book for you! I just finished Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Most of the chapters make my brain hurt. But….C.S. challenges me, grows me, and makes me think outside the box I have unwittingly put God and Christianity inside. C.S. can say it like no one else I know or have read. Love me some C.S.!

(By the way, I’m not trying to downplay Mr. Lewis or imply a level of friendship or familiarity. However, our brains are wired in similar paths, so I feel that he is a kindred spirit and wouldn’t mind us being on a first-name basis.)

I could probably blog about my mediations from Mere Christianity for a whole year. I could probably reread it every two to three months and gain amazing new insights each time.

But here’s the part I copied into my journal this week:

“What we have been told is how men can be drawn into Christ – can become part of that wonderful present which the young Prince of the universe wants to offer his Father – that present which is Himself and therefore us in Him. It is the only thing we were made for. And there are strange, exciting hints in the Bible that when we are drawn in, a great many things in Nature will begin to come right. The bad dream will be over; it will be morning.”

Whoa. That’s deep, even for my contemplative soul.

The last sentence from that passage has been percolating in my head since I read that. I can’t stop thinking about it!

Just think - the best, most amazing things we experience in this world are a bad dream compared to what is waiting for us. Gives me goose bumps right now, and lifts my spirit! Better than love. Better than kissing a really cute guy. Better than chocolate. Better than wearing a fabulous pair of new shoes. Better than everything God has promised my heart, that I am praying and waiting for as patiently as my impatient human heart is able. Better than anything we can experience, dream, or imagine with our amazing but limited human brains.

What are the ‘hints’ the Bible gives us to this new world, this moment when we will awaken from our present dream? I went on a treasure hunt and found a few:

Rev 21: 4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (this one's my favorite)

Is 28:17 “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.”

I’m sure there are so many other hints throughout the Bible that I missed, that didn’t speak to me the way they speak to others. This was just a speedy treasure hunt, really. If you have any treasures, please share the love!

Reading this passage from Mere Christianity has given me new ‘goggles’ through which to view the Bible…the Word becomes more and more a treasure hunt every day. What an exciting adventure to undertake during this life!

Someday, I hope and pray to awaken to God’s amazing world, to leave behind this ‘bad dream.’ Personally, I cannot wait to see the true world, to leave the ‘anesthetic fog’ of my current reality (go C.S.! Say it!).

On that day, I will joyfully, gladly say “Good morning, world! And good morning, Lord!”