Recover the Wonder
Have you ever thought heaven sounded…well, boring (gasp)?
Often times when I picture heaven I envision angels sitting atop fluffy clouds strumming harps and not much else. It’s the cultural version of heaven that’s proliferated throughout our society, and unfortunately it seeps into my thinking as well.
As a child, when I asked what heaven would be like I was told we’d sit around singing for all eternity, like a never-ending kumbaya camp meeting. Forever.
I’m sorry, but that sounds like monotony defined. I mean, I like to sing as much as the next person. But, forever? Sounds like a recipe for laryngitis.
Please don’t think I’m being irreverent.
And please don’t be offended.
I’m not saying that worshiping God through song is boring. Not at all. I enjoy singing praises a lot. I really do.
But I’d like to think that worship will involve more than just singing for all eternity. And that the God who created us, and the world we live in, just might have some surprises up his sleeve when we meet face to face (I do love surprises!).
In short, I have no idea what heaven will be like, aside from some very brief descriptions in the Bible that are hard to even comprehend. But what I’ve been thinking about lately, when I’m tempted to think that heaven sounds boring, is a gorgeous sunset, burning with colors that shift and play as they give way to a sparkling galaxy of stars. And how a God who uses the sky for his canvas—who makes the grandest artwork the world has ever seen—could never be boring.
Each night when I take the time to watch it I'm transfixed by the sunset. I stare until it melts into blackness and I always wish it had lasted longer. I can sit on the beach for a week and never tire of the power of the waves breaking on the shore. It just never gets old. Those things mesmerize me, and I think that’s what heaven will be like. I think that’s what being in the presence of God will be like. No matter how much we get, we’ll always want more.
Several years ago, after Christmas, my family and I went on a little getaway to Magazine Mountain in Arkansas. One afternoon we went on a hike to the top of the mountain and while the views were breathtaking the real showstoppers were the trees surrounding us on the way up. I must have taken a hundred pictures. They looked like delicate glass sculptures, each one wrapped in glistening ice. Every branch twisting and turning in their own unique design. They sparkled like the most intricate cut glass you’ve ever seen. Can you imagine being bored in the presence of the One who dreamed that up?
Me neither.
The more I think about it the more I realize that being in the presence of the Author of Creativity couldn’t ever be anything but fascinating.
If you’ve never thought about it like that before. Think about it now. It kind of changes everything, right?
Think about your happy place. The place that fills in all the holes that life has drilled into you. Think about the Creator who made that place and knew the effect it would have on you. Can you imagine enjoying that (and him) for all eternity?
The word original has been turning over and over in my mind lately. So I went to Merriam-Webster and this is what they had to say about it:
A person who is different from other people in an appealing or interesting wayThe source or cause from which something arisesA person of fresh initiative or inventive capacity
Sounds anything but boring, right? Because God is the Original original. Literally the origin of all things.
It makes me cringe to think I ever thought heaven sounded boring. Something was clearly wrong with the description I got when I was a kid.
And I think it started with our need to explain and understand the unexplainable. In our well-meaning attempts to shrink God’s creative genius down to fit our finite brains, we strip the wonder and excitement away.
So, if you’re a parent, or you work with kids in any way, or you're struggling with a small view of God and you’re tempted to try and describe the indescribable, don’t. Just don’t. Point to something that feeds the awe and wonder. Like the Grand Canyon, or Mount Everest. Don’t steal it away. And when you don’t know the answer to something it’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” More than okay really.
Live in the wonder and the anticipation.
~Gut-Check and Action Steps~
Have you ever thought heaven sounded boring? Why or why not?
Are you ever tempted to explain away the wonder? Fight the urge to try to fit everything into what you can understand.
Spend some time thinking about the most magnificent sights you’ve ever seen. And then remind yourself that those things are just a taste of what’s to come!