If You Believe…

As incredible as our most lucid moments in this world may be, they don’t compare to the reality of the next world. The one we can’t yet see. The fact that death is the required portal to pass into that world says something about how different it must be. 

Yet still we can imagine it, in part. Or maybe, with imagination, we can even experience a taste of the next world here. If something so utterly other exists beyond our world, certainly there will be morsels of it around to help us discover it.

In other words, we are not left here without some indications that there is more. We are not left completely in the dark. We are tested. We are tried. Of course. But we are given access to keyholes of eternity sprinkled all around us. Moments of clarity will reveal it.

Experiences where we know what we ultimately hope for is real. True. Coming. And like the person who finds a treasure in an abandoned field, we mark our spot and take our notes. Not that we can go back to it exactly, but we know. It’s there. It is real!  

Many will not believe us. Many will ask for proof. Many will demand to be taken to the exact spot and shown the treasure in plain sight. But that’s not how it works. Each must find the treasure themselves. Each must find their own unique way to it.

But here’s the good news! 

God is always here in that place. Always penetrating our world. Always inviting us to reveal the treasure. That invitation does not go away. Ever. For anyone. He harbors no ill will. No guilt is held over our heads. There is only perfect love driving out fear.

The invitation reminds us we are always one step away from the other dimension. One glance. One ponder. One fresh breeze. One sound. We are reminded. It’s almost like receiving an email from the other side. 

Are we listening? 

“We are here. We know. We are with you. Don’t give up. You can do it.” Nature conspires for us, not against us. She too is with us. She wants us to win. She cares. Suddenly we are encouraged. We are given confidence, it IS real. It is true.  

Our wild hopes are substantiated. We are really that close to what we long for. It exists.  It haunts our world. It longs to break in, to be realized. All that we long for and desire is real. Those pure longings for ultimate goodness are actually well founded.  

It is no lie. It is no make-believe. It is not wishful thinking. It is real. This is joy: to realize what we ultimately and most dearly hope to be true really is true. Not cotton candy and unicorns, but maybe cotton candy and unicorns. Who knows for sure?

It is not about greed. Or getting everything you want. It’s about realizing those truest wants deep, deep inside you, that deep, intense longing for a more beautiful, kind, gentle, peaceful and righteous world is true. It is from God. It reflects a real reality. 

One that for now we can only see in part.  But one we can see nevertheless.  

If you can believe, you can see.