Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Waiting for Change

Last night it rained soothingly and the temperature fell thirty degrees, from the muggy, torpid 90s to cool, fresh 60s. This morning I walked out the back door and entered Autumn in July. Some of the trees were losing leaves and I swear the air smelled like wood smoke.

Few things so refreshing materialize so suddenly. Tolkien’s concept of “eucatastrophe” came to mind: a sudden, inexplicable change for the good. I think in a sense we’re all waiting for the world to change; to wake up and discover it is better—really better, like the way you thought life would improve after your tenth birthday.

We wait for a feeling of genuine world alteration, as if a drought that has lasted as long as anyone can remember has suddenly broken. Unexpected “small” things—like today’s reviving air, or the first snowfall—hint at the unarticulated wish.

We long silently to be awakened by an unthinkably lucky sunrise—heaven surfacing in full view. The old immanence shattered.

Or maybe I’m just strangely moved by weather, but I don’t think so.

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1 comment:

  1. AJ10:34 PM

    "Waiting" I definitely am, but I don't find that this precludes active hopes and dreams. Honestly, I think it's the opposite. Waiting on Christ is what powers my imagination and aspirations.

    Thus "heaven's immanence" brings these little hints to life...and "the wish" grows stronger. Correspondingly, so do my hopes.

    As to getting older, I think you're right. Thank God that aging itself is temporary.

    When the "priorlife" arrives, it's curtains for aging.

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