I’m back from some travels that took me to do some work, see some old friends, meet new ones, and, most preciously, see the little boy in Texas who melts my heart and makes me so happy to be a grandpa.
Of course I’ll be tired and cranky for the next few days, but it was well worth the extra hours on a plane to make this past weekend such a good time. Still, I’m reminded we all must face life’s ups and downs, and even in our best of moments, there are others that actually hurt. I can put those behind me now, but I still know the ups are temporary. Downs are on their way.
Now, you might think that that last sentence took a turn, but it didn’t really. This is all just a reminder to me that the one who brings us life’s joys is also the one who forms and cares for us through the darkest times. I spent hours cramped uncomfortably in a metal tube with no exit but death or the gate at the end of a successful flight (which has happened every time I’ve done it) for a few moments of joy to refresh me, and yet I can rest also knowing of an eternal joy that will eventually overcome every pain and tear I have yet to face.
Sure, it sucks when the pain comes in life (and we all know it comes for every, single, one of us). Anyone reading this right now has felt it, and will most probably feel it again. The difference is this. I hold to the joy of knowing there is an end that is much more than just fading into nothingness at best (and eternal torment at worst): an eternity of life in a heaven where those pains won’t even be memories.
Who wouldn’t want that but those who would rather cling to the pain.