Luxury
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
- Jesus of Nazareth
I don’t remember taking vacations as a kid. I can remember some awkward visits to see some relatives in Dallas, sleeping on the floor, and going to an amusement park one day. I remember my dad taking me on a one-day business trip with him to a bigger city and taking in a new movie called “Star Wars”.
But I never really gave it much thought. I remember a distant memory of spending time on a deserted island and a trip to Hawaii, only to realize that I was blurring my recollections with Gilligan’s Island and the Brady Bunch. I spent a lot of time escaping to a different life through television and the life I imagined there.
In a meeting last week, a leader described her impression of vacations as a child as an…
...unattainable luxury.
That expression echoed in me like a church bell or the stiff base note at the heavy metal concerts of my youth. It reverberated throughout the life I’ve lived and stood in deep contrast to the life I am finding.
Her description of her first adult vacation to “paradise” reminded me of mine. I had gotten up extra early to watch the sunrise on my first morning in Hawaii. Backpack and journal at the ready. We had arrived in the dark and I had only seen whispers and shadows of the glory I sensed was about to unfold.
As light broke the horizon of the endless ocean, I was overwhelmed and undone.
I wanted to marry the creation I was experiencing with the creation I had read about. But instead of turning to the Genesis story I found myself in Kindle reading the “Magician’s Nephew” from C.S. Lewis and his depiction of Aslan singing the world into existence.
(Grab a copy of the illustrated version of Magician’s Nephew and make sure your kids and grandkids get to experience Ch. 9 “The Founding of Narnia”.)
The “unattainable luxury” I had only imagined my entire life was becoming unimaginable beauty right before my eyes. And not only that, it was the realization that all that beauty was glory intended just for me.
I’ve heard so many describe their interaction with the grandeur of creation as making them feel very small. Mine was the opposite. I experienced the overwhelming feeling of the Creator’s love for me in the creation. I felt 10 feet tall, bursting with joy and confidence that comes from being noticed and cared for well.
He was delighting in me delighting in what he had created just for me. Just like any father would for his sons or daughters.
Consider
- How are you experiencing the Creator?
- Do you find him in His creation?
- Are you overwhelmed, undone, and more closely aligned to Him in it or do you feel distanced and smaller?
- What is that telling you about your understanding of the heart of your Father?