Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lambdown the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:1-5)
Our church has been going through a sermon series on Ecclesiastes, in which the author describes his quest to find meaning in different things in life, finding them all meaningless. Ecclesiastes is one of the books that many non-Christian friends appreciate since its reflections and musings deeply resonate with the reality of life's experiences.
I was reading Thomas a Kempis' Of the Imitation of Christ, and this excerpt, I feel, does quite a good job of capturing the core message of Ecclesiastes, and was really good for me to reflect on.
What are the things that I long for? Are they temporary or eternal? Are they selfish or Christ-centered? Am I storing up treasures on earth or in heaven? I admit that oftentimes, the things I long for are "perishing riches", or "honors" and "high degree". It is also true that I oftentimes simply follow the "desires of the flesh", rather than setting my heart after those things which are true, noble, and pure.
Personally, I have definitely felt the truth that "there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end are the ways of death" (Prov 14:12), and that the life of following after Christ, though requiring much sacrifice and cross-bearing, ultimately leads to "life abundant and full", both in this life and the one to come. May God strengthen us and help us to let go of all the things that bind us and keep us from living the fruitful life he has made us to live!
"Vanity of vanities... all is vanity" (Ecc 1:2), except to love God and to serve Him only. This is the highest wisdom, by the contempt of the world to press forward toward heavenly kingdoms.
Therefore it is vanity to seek after perishing riches and to trust in them. Also it is vanity to hunt after honors and to climb to high degree. It is vanity to follow the desires of the flesh and to long after that for which you must afterward suffer grievous punishment. It is vanity to wish to live long and to be careless to live well. It is vanity to mind only this present life, and not to foresee those things that are to come. It is vanity to set your love on that which speedily passes away, and not to hasten to where everlasting joy abides.
Call often to mind that proverb, "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing" (Ecc 1:8). Endeavor therefore to withdraw your heart from the love of visible things and to turn yourself to things invisible. For they that follow their own sensuality defile their consciences and lose the grace of God.
"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
(Hebrews 6:19)
"Why, my soul, are you downcast?Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,for I will yet praise him,my Savior and my God."
(Psalm 42:5)
"But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you."
(Psalm 39:7)
"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
(Romans 4:18)
"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
(Romans 5:5)
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"
(1 Peter 1:3)
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
(2 Corinthians 12:9)
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"
(Matthew 6:25-27)
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
(Joshua 1:9)
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
This has been sitting as a draft for a while, so I think I should just post it. I was originally going to write about this passage as related to my own struggles and wrestlings about the right way to think about research, decisions on career, faith, and the future. Lots of deep stuff in Tolkien's quote! But since I haven't had time to organize my thoughts, I'll just post the quote itself for your enjoyment :)
The following excerpt comes from a letter by J.R.R Tolkien. In it, he summarizes the major themes of the world/story he created in The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.
... Anyway all this stuff* is mainly concerned with Fall, Mortality, and the Machine. With Fall inevitably, and that motive occurs in several modes. With Mortality, especially as it affects art and the creative (or as I should say, sub-creative) desire which seems to have no biological function, and to be apart from the satisfactions of plain ordinary biological life, with which, in our world, it is indeed usually at strife. This desire is at once wedded to a passionate love of the real primary world, and hence filled with the sense of mortality, and yet unsatisfied by it. It has various opportunities of 'Fall'. It may become possessive, clinging to the things made as 'its own', the sub-creator wishes to be the Lord and God of his private creation. He will rebel against the laws of the Creator – especially against mortality. Both of these (alone or together) will lead to the desire for Power, for making the will more quickly effective, – and so to the Machine (or Magic). By the last I intend all use of external plans or devices (apparatus) instead of development of the inherent inner powers or talents — or even the use of these talents with the corrupted motive of dominating: bulldozing the real world, or coercing other wills. The Machine is our more obvious modern form though more closely related to Magic than is usually recognised.
I have not used 'magic' consistently, and indeed the Elven-queen Galadriel is obliged to
remonstrate with the Hobbits on their confused use of the word both for the devices and operations of the Enemy, and for those of the Elves. I have not, because there is not a word for the latter (since all human stories have suffered the same confusion). But the Elves are there (in my tales) to demonstrate the difference. Their 'magic' is Art, delivered from many of its human limitations: more effortless, more quick, more complete (product, and vision in unflawed correspondence). And its object is Art not Power, sub-creation not domination and tyrannous re-forming of Creation. The 'Elves' are 'immortal', at least as far as this world goes: and hence are concerned rather with the griefs and burdens of deathlessness in time and change, than with death. The Enemy in successive forms is always 'naturally' concerned with sheer Domination, and so the Lord of magic and machines; but the problem : that this frightful evil can and does arise from an apparently good root,
the desire to benefit the world and others** — speedily and according to the benefactor's own plans — is a recurrent motive.
* It is, I suppose, fundamentally concerned with the problem of the relation of Art (and Sub-creation) and Primary Reality.
** Not in the Beginner of Evil: his was a sub-creative Fall, and hence the Elves (the representatives of sub-creation par excellence) were peculiarly his enemies, and the special object of his desire and hate – and open to his deceits. Their Fall is into possessiveness and (to a less degree) into perversion of their art to power.
