Why Did You Leave Earth?

Lifted up. That’s how I would describe the feeling as we left the Earth. Pulled by imaginary strings, pushed into the above, how would you say it? We are packed in here like tight luggage for a long trip. One thousand light years, give or take, and we will arrive beyond our sun and at the greatest planet ever, Final Peace. 

It’s like dying, they say. Maybe it is dying. For all I know they put us in this tin can to send us to Jesus. I take a deep breath, as full and lung-filling as the doctor’s partial sedation will allow. It’s not enough and I gasp. We are all fighting for air. Whatever they are piping into this compartment is not quite the same. 

I am homesick. Apples, seasons, weather, all left behind us, replaced by the hum of our propulsion and unnatural light. There is nothing here to like. What have we given up? I didn’t think the transition would be this alienating. I didn’t imagine I would no longer feel like myself. I feel so wrong. It dawns on me that I must have been on Earth for a reason. I had been tethered there because that is where I belonged. I could only hope I would feel differently at our destination. I didn’t think there was a way back. We gave up so much. 

No matter what you think of the Earth and its troubles, you will miss it when you leave. You’ll look back and you’ll realize there are things on that gentle blue ball in space that are not elsewhere. 

I ask the people next to me why they left. One, a man in his forties, says his wife and son are already at Final Peace. He is going to be with them. That is the best reason I have heard so far. The woman on my other side agrees with me. The Earth had become dark and depressing. Too much war. Too much fear. She left to start anew. I suppose we are both doing that, in a way. I am in search of the Kingdom of God. She wondered why I didn’t think that was on Earth: Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Why didn’t I think of that before I strapped myself into this chair? 

I left Earth because I wanted quiet, but the truth is I made my own loudness. I could have shut it off, the worry and the looking around in terror. I could have stayed on the Earth if I had quieted myself there. And now I didn’t know what was ahead.

In the City of David

 

For unto you is born this day in 

the city of David a Saviour, 

which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; 

Ye shall find the babe 

wrapped in swaddling clothes, 

lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel 

a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, 

and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, 

and on earth peace, 

good will toward men.

Luke 2:11-14

What Hanukkah Means to Me as a Christian

 

I lit the candles in the wrong order many times before

 a Jewish friend watched me and said, "What are you doing?" 

Now I light them the way they do. 

Many things I did as the world does them before I knew Jesus, the Light of the World.

Hanukkah is a miracle. Triumph, safety, freedom, light in the darkness. There was a fierce battle like the one we are in now. The temple was taken. The menorah was stolen. Salvation was on the way, but everything they could see and touch and feel told them otherwise. Like now, maybe. 

The light returned. The small amount of oil was enough. 

I believe this story is like another. In the following the oil in the lamps is the Lord. Knowing Him means your lamp is full. Is yours? Even a small amount? What if He returned right now? (Jesus is the bridegroom. In these verses He returns for His bride the church, which is every believer, not a building or organization. It's us.)

Matthew 25:1-13

"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

Happy Hanukkah

 

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. 

It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts 

walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.

 John 10:22-23

1 Peter 3:10-11

 

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

Ice Songs

 

Did you know ice sings? It does, like us. 

This is a dear, old friend of mine who I have never met or spoken to in real life. But this is better than real life, isn't it? In real life I have wet socks and dirty coffee cups and my hair's a mess. Oh, and the Ancient Spirit she mentions? I know Who that is. Do you?

Good

 

A whisper came on the wind, reminding her of bitter days. Bitter? Yes, but the memory colored the present. It made her grateful. Now the hearth was full of firewood and little shoes and drying socks. Bellies were full. Tears had been wiped away. Songs sang themselves. Had the battle been won? Truthfully, she had not really expected to win, but here they were. It had been won, the long war of mankind over the centuries, eons and days and forever. It was done. She was tired, but danced anyway and rejoiced and stood astonished at the sound of peace. They had never heard it before, this pause, breath, the still, soft whisper that reminded them all what they had been given. It was good.

1 John 2:23

 

No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.