Inspired by . . . misc items of misc value
Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God,
Who gave it to us. Useless, useless, said the Philosopher. It is all useless. Ecc 12:7-8
You catch yourself thinking like Solomon when you are tasked with sorting through 85 years of accumulated papers and, well, stuff.
In a box marked “Misc Items of Misc Value” I find this envelope:
Contents? exactly as described.
Attention Poopils! a Quaker Oats company advertisement booklet from 1925, Lenten service from 1911, a leather-bond diary from 1905 containing more useful information than the world’s almanac {truly}. Prayer cards, hunting licenses from 1946/1947 and the infamous #8894 Bank of the United States $1000 bill.
And this, a little card imprinted with a few stanzas from a long forgotten hymn, Farther On.
Do you recall the last scene in Narnia, just before the curtain falls?
I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…Come further up, come further in!
–Jewel the Unicorn, The Last Battle
I wonder if C.S. Lewis had this hymn in mind when he wrote the final chapter of The Last Battle?
As we get older and experience more and more loss it’s easy to focus on the uselessness of this life. Our time here is brief, and the things we value in this world, have no place in the next. There is a reason for our restfulness, and our feelings of uselessness.
Farther On
I hear it singing, singing sweetly.
Softly, in an undertone,
Singing as if God had taught it,
It is better farther on.
Night and day it sings the sonnet,
Sings it while I sit alone,
Sings it so my heart will hear it,
It is better farther on.
Farther on! How much farther?
Count the mile stones one by one?
No; no counting, only trusting,
It is better farther on.
Lewis’ words, along with the hymn writer’s remind us that this life is not the end, and this world is not our home.
There is HOPE, and it is a strong HOPE indeed.
Even Solomon, in the end, admitted:
After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey His commands,
because this is all that we were created for.
God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.
Ecc 12:13-14
We find HOPE in the assurance of an eternal home. A place where no tear will fall, where all wrongs will be made right, where all will be well.
As Scripture says: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love Him." 1Co 2:9
God’s been doing this for me. Hiding little gems of JOY amidst the mundane. Truth’s of His world amidst the forgeries of this one. Little reminders to point me back to Him, when the uselessness of this life threatens to overwhelm.
I believe He does this for all of us.
We just have to be willing to pause,
to open our eyes,
and to see.
What is He showing you today?
Blessings,
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If you read something here that inspired you, I’d love to hear about it. Please know I appreciate every comment! Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings, June