I am sailing up the Strait of Georgia as I type this. It is an absolutely gorgeous evening. Blue skies, a low sun setting over Vancouver Island, the hills and mountains of the Island a purple haze, merging into the few clouds hanging low in the West where the sea meets the sky. The waters of the Strait are calm, quietly rippled. Even a prairie boy like me can admit admiration for this part of God’s wonderful creation.
I am heading home from a day down to Seattle. As I mentioned in my last post, my dear mother-in-law is very ill. My wife has gone to Nashville to spend a few weeks with her, perhaps the last weeks our dear one will spend on earth. It is lung cancer. The name of the disease is the name of decay and the curse. The fruit of Adam’s sin wracks our mortal bodies, bringing them down to dust in the end.
All our labours, hopes, and dreams come to an end at last, at least as far as this life is concerned. Even now, in my own body, decay is evident. I cannot run so far as I once could. Run? I can barely run at all, and not for long. One day, if the Lord tarries, it will be my turn to lie at death’s door and answer the call of the curse as well.
The purple glory in the west seems to belie the dread and despair my soul feels. What congruence hath this glory in this world of sin and shame? The sight of the setting sun brings to mind the hope of the kingdom to come, the glories of the King who died for all men, and especially for the household of God. The sun is setting on this world, but the Son is rising. One day, in all his brightness and glory, the curse will be gone and done. All His saints will reign with Him … now that is an incongrous thought, as I think of the weary body of my dear wife’s mother, coming close to the end of her earthly span. She will one day stand with the Son, in His glory. And so will I, and all who love Him and look for his appearing. We are not significant players in this world of might and men, but we will reign with the Son.
The Son in his Book promises these things to us. Believest thou this?
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
P.S. For a look at some Vancouver Island sunset images, these are the best I’ve seen on the Web:
It is so beautiful around here we tend to take it for granted.
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