I saw the trailer for a movie coming out that's based on a bestseller book. It seems like an empty, desperate attempt to quench the never-ending thirst of our society, but I imagine that satisfaction just leaves readers haunted with even more unmet longings. God was cunning when he set eternity in our hearts, John Eldredge says, because there's only one thing that can truly quench our thirst.
I'm thinking of how good God is, and how big. He takes the term "fifty shades" (the title, referring to a person who has many faces), and fulfills that himself in a holy and beautiful way- one that humans have a hard time grasping. He is a Trinity of power, intimacy, and direction.
"There is a far better way to describe this man than 'perfect.' Jesus is beautiful. He is not glistening white marble. He is the playfulness of creation, scandal and utter goodness, the generosity of the ocean and the ferocity of a thunderstorm; he is cunning as a snake and gentle as a whisper; the gladness of sunshine and the humility of a thirty-mile walk by foot on a dirt road. Reclining at a meal, laughing with friends, and then going to the cross." - John Eldredge, A Beautiful Outlaw
Playfulness.
Scandal.
Generosity.
Ferocity.
Cunning.
Gentle.
Gladness.
Humility.
Real.
Jesus is our God, and he is all those things! We can't put a limit on him, or put him into a category of personality. He is the perfect balance of truth and grace. Everything about him is backwards from what the world expects/wants/is.
He is the difference between existing and living.
"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." - C.S. Lewis
I see existing as falling captive to our own desires and pleasures and self-serving ambitions. It's going round and round and always looking for more. It can look like an overwhelming duty or a purposeless despair. It can be masked by many facades and suppressed until you've convinced yourself that you've won... but why settle for mud pies in a slum when we are offered a holiday at the sea?
Living looks like the above excerpt by Eldredge. It's appreciating creation, recognizing emotions, embracing uncertainty, spending yourself for others out of the overflow of your heart.
Jesus knew what the next day would entail when he sat at that dinner table surrounded by beautifully broken people who had no idea what He was doing. Not only was He preparing to die, He was preparing them to live by His Spirit- which would remain whenever he left them. And despite the ensuing pain, he didn't panic. He reclined. He laughed. Jesus laughed. He trusted his Father, as should we, because what He wants for us is in our best interest. Jesus entered the slum in hopes that we would follow him out to a (permanent) holiday at sea. This is the only Fountain that will quench our thirst.
