the universe as it begins for all things
I've had a deep-seated interest in the problem of pain for several years, for mostly personal but also faith reasons. Last Fall, in the middle of another difficult season, I began reading Philip Yancey's Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud, which I'd inherited from my grandmother. I found it to be profoundly relatable on a personal level and deeply theologically grounded, a rare combination.
Though I think the book is most valuable for its realistic take on our encounters with pain and disappointment in the context of faith, a couple of passages related to Christ's resurrection and the innocence of creation stood out to me as well. I've looked forward to sharing them this week as we focus on the redemption God intends to bring His creatures into. First, on the inimitable meaning of Easter, and our deep need for "a new heaven and a new earth," Yancey writes:
The Cross of Christ may have overcome evil, but it did not overcome unfairness. For that, Easter is required. Someday, God will restore all physical reality to its proper place under his reign. Until then, it is a good thing to remember that we live out our days on Easter Saturday. (pg. 186)
Yancey also shares a heartwarming story from anthropologist Loren Eiseley which harkens back to the Garden Eden, with a touch of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, and prompts a longing for the peaceable kingdom of the new heaven and new earth all the more.
Eiseley was meandering along an empty beach when he took cover from a wet fog under an old boat, and took a nap for a while. He awoke to find himself face to face with a fox pup, "so young that it had not learned to fear." Yancey goes on to say that after a few moments the pup began playing with a chicken bone, with "a vast and playful humor in his face," and Eiseley couldn't help himself but join in the fun.
Yancey quotes Eiseley himself:
"For just a moment I had held the universe at bay by the simple expedient of sitting on my haunches before a fox den and tumbling about with a chicken bone." It was "the gravest, most meaningful act I shall ever accomplish," he later concluded, for in it he had caught at last a glimpse of the universe as it begins for all things. "It was, in reality, a child's universe, a tiny and laughing universe." (pg. 58, quoting from The Star Thrower, 64-65 (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich '79))
What a beautiful thought, and what a beautiful hope we have that even with so much innocence having been lost in this world, God still intends to bring about such a universe in every respect, for His children and His creatures.
(Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud (Zondervan '88, cover image from a later edition); photo courtesy Peter Blom)
April 6, 2010
Reader Comments (5)
Beautifully written. I love The Little Prince and the fox is my favorite.....the photo fits with your story so well. We all need to take the time to play! I enjoy your blog.
Ben, great post. I especially appreciate the first part of the Yancey quote: "We need more than miracle. We need a new heaven and a new earth, and until we have those, unfairness will not disappear." It is so important to keep that future transformation in mind. Such a good reminder. Thank you. I look forward to the other quotes you will be sharing this week.
Thank you very much, Shari, and a friend of mine from Holland, Peter Blom, took that cute picture of the fox! Thank you as well for the note, Scott. Yancey's book has meant a great deal to me over the past several months - Ben
Great post and writing, Ben, thank you! It is always a comfort and an encouragement to hear another Christian who believes and sees similar to what the Lord has shown me. Not despising the day of small beginnings, we're getting there. His Love and Blesssings!
Thank you for the kind words, Linda, and for sharing in the heart of this post. That's encouraging for me as well. I hope you had a happy and meaningful Easter - Ben