Sehnsucht is hard to put into words, as can be seen in my painfully limited ability to describe what I felt at a vista in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some call it joy. Some called it wistful longing for something you can’t explain. It has been called melancholy and nostalgia. It is all of that, and more.
Read MoreThis Homeward Ache is a series of memoir-like essays on the author’s experience of Sehnsucht—a sense of separation from and the ceaseless longing for a place one has never been. C.S. Lewis, the author points out, calls it Joy (in Surprised by Joy). The author’s argument is that these longings point us toward Heaven, the home where we belong but have not yet reached.
I give This Homeward Ache 4 stars because it felt like a lovely conversation. The sometimes-burdensome descriptions kept me from giving it 5 stars.
Read MoreI used to worry wonder if I’d miss the action when Jesus comes back. Revelation 14:1 (NIV) says, “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion.” The land of Israel is on the other side of the planet from where I sit. How could I “look” and see the Lamb coming? This concerned me. But that was before the internet and social media. I’m not so worried now.
Still, my FOMO makes me itch.
But a funny thing happened when I studied Revelation in BSF this year. I came across repeated instances of trumpets.
Read MoreUpgrading my Ankle-Foot Orthotic (AFO) gave me a lot more support and helped me walk better. But my new carbon fiber AFO started damaging my shoes. Here are a few ways I’ve learned to protect my shoes from AFO damage.
Read MoreThe Alaskan Wood Frog helps me understand the resurrection better. Jesus was in a real, physical body. But he was also, somehow, in a spiritual body that could appear suddenly, defying physics. This is beyond our understanding, but not beyond our trust. We can trust that what was true for Christ in resurrection will be true for us at our resurrection. The Alaskan Wood Frog doesn’t come back to life in spring because it never died in the winter. Still, it gives us a picture of our resurrection life: a life in a recognizable, physical body, full of activity.
Read MoreIn our humanity, there are limits to how much we can understand of our infinite God and his ways. This is a good thing! When I run into those limits, I know I am being challenged to be content with what God has revealed to me and to trust him with what has not been revealed.
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