All shall be well
All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things will be made well.
- Julian of Norwich
The Far Country
God is at home. We are in the Far Country. – Meister Eckhart
Psalm 137 begins as the exiled Israelites are demanded to sing songs of joy by their captors. The Israelites refuse. They hang their harps on trees and ask:
How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?1
The entire video above is excellent, but Rich Mullins makes a particularly insightful comment around the minute mark when he asks, “what land have we ever been in that isn’t foreign?”
Are we really in that much different a place than those Israelites? If so, how are we supposed to sing songs of joy? I can see singing songs asking for deliverance. I understand singing request for freedom. But joy? How on earth are we supposed to be joyful under these conditions?
The eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews includes a litany of saints who placed their trust in God. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. They were stoned and put to death by the sword. Others were sawed in two.2
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.3
God is not ashamed to be called my God. He has prepared a city for me. Because of Jesus Christ, I’ve already been delivered and my present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in me.4 – These are my reasons for joy.
- Psalm 137: 4 ↩
- Parts of Hebrews 11:35-38 ↩
- Hebrews 11:13-16 ↩
- Romans 8:18 ↩
Eternity
Do you often ask a question,
you don’t know the answer to?
Like why the grass is green
or why the sky is blue?
Do the answers ever satisfy
your curiosity?
Have you studied little flowers
and marveled at what you’ve seen?
Is there something you’re reaching for,
something you desire?
Do you want to slay the dragons,
with your little heart on fire?
Do you gaze upon the clouds
and slip outside of time?
But fear you don’t amount to much,
like a nickel with the dimes?
Do you know that something is missing?
Does it ever make you sad?
Do your dreams keep you up at night
because you want it so bad?
Do you have an ache within
that the cookie jar can’t undo?
Does your heart hold a fairy tale,
you fear will never come true?
Well I don’t have all the answers,
but I know a thing or two
The something that you’re searching for
is calling out to you
The deep things call to deep,
this hunger isn’t for food
The questions point to answers,
your heart is being wooed
Someone is in the details,
He has been there all along
He is strong when you are weak
and gives a brand new song
His invisible qualities are seen,
you can hear without a sound
He can fill your heart with greater joy
than when new wine abounds
I don’t know how deep the ocean goes
or when time got its start
But I know that you wonder
because eternity was set in your heart
Well I don’t have all the answers,
but there’s one thing I must tell you
Forever does exist
where wildest dreams come true
© Mark C. Lamberti
Crash
That dish fell right out of my hands;
It hit the floor and shattered
Once it left my fingertips, I knew it was over
Things would never be the same
I let go instead of holding tight
Now, I hold tight instead of letting go
I pick up the few remaining pieces
And remember the way things used to be
One day, everything will be restored.
This wasn’t supposed to happen
© Mark C. Lamberti