The start of something eternal

Today is sublime. I had an awful sleep yet again, we didn't have any eggs when I went to make my breakfast this morning, and today is Buster & Snuffles' (picture below, Buster is the big fatty) last day with us; but when I woke up there was a joy in my heart. I'm currently on my 5th chemotherapy cycle and this happens to me every single cycle. Every cycle I feel as though the awfulness of it all will never end, yet by the 10th or 11th or 20th day I always always always always ALWAYS start to have better days and the joy in my heart once again becomes evident.

Ecclesiastes says that "there's a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance" (3:4). Last week may have been a time to weep and mourn, two weeks from today may also be a time to weep and mourn, but today is the beginning of a time to laugh and dance. We have to take advantage of these times. I know I've already quoted him a lot already throughout my blog posts but Eugene Peterson says that "all evil is temporary" and today I re-realized that this statement is true. There will always be evil in the world but all evil will pass, every bit of it will fade away. There will always be awful things in the world -- things that cause weeping and mourning -- but those things will all eventually go away. So when we have the opportunity, we have to learn to laugh and dance.

Ecclesiastes then goes on to say that God has "set eternity in the human heart" (3:11). We have a longing for the life we were created for -- the life prior to the fall of man, the life prior to mourning and weeping. C.S. Lewis says that we can do nothing worthwhile in this life, without having our hearts set on the next. I especially love what C.S. Lewis has to say about the longing for a heavenly life because the whole reason why he found God was because while reading the Bible and trying to disprove it he realized that he had an eternal longing for goodness, which proved to him that we were created to live a good life - separate from the bad things we encounter in the world. I think this lines up beautifully with what Solomon was stating when he wrote Ecclesiastes. While we will have times to weep and mourn, as well as laugh and dance, we were created for an eternal goodness. And before we retire to this eternal good life, we are meant to progressively grow closer to it while in this fleeting life.

Sometimes I think of when I'll be done with all this mess; when I'll be done with the chemotherapy, blood thinners, doctors, CT scans, etc. etc. etc. and wonder if I will ever feel strong and capable again. If I'll ever be able to run my ministry again or if I'll ever go back to finishing my masters. Ecclesiastes convinces me that "there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live" (3:12); C.S. Lewis reminds me that if I keep my heart on eternity I will be able to do good in the present; and the better days assure me that somehow I will once again be filled with a strength that will be ready to conquer the world.