Legacy

Eyes fixed, down. Verdant green, laced light from tree limbs, glimmering diamond light, granite rich rocks covered with royal moss--there is deep beauty. Captivating. Visible. Arresting. But, mere reflection. Mere reflection. Touch, and all ripples. Reflection breaks and refracts. Gaze up! Gaze up! Real beauty surrounds!

We live in real beauty. Real good.  But yet, it is a shadow, a mere reflection of the new creation, the new earth, of the heavenly realm. It is patterned after the truly real. And we, where is our true home? What are we really? Immortal beings. As C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, and the fairy tales and legends of immortal beings point out, we are created for more. We know it. But we are arrested by the reflection.

We put so much emphasis on legacy here on earth. Good, right. 

But do we think of what our legacy in heaven will be? Do I plan and work toward that?

We ask, will they remember me? 

We don’t ask, how will we talk again, relate, experience each other in heaven, for eternity?

We ask, how can we change the world, make a difference? 

We rarely ask, how can I change eternity?

We ask, how can I make my life better? How can I be a better person? 

We don’t often ask, how is this trait going to form an immortal being?

We need to ask both questions. This life, this world, is important. God created this world, blessed it, created us to have dominion over it. Moreover, Christ entered into time and space and physicality, showing how important this world is. Our creation in his image points to the importance of this earth. We are to be his stewards on earth; we are to pray for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are to be salt and light of his, agents of his redemption, in this world. But yet, do we live for the shadow momentary tangible of this world, or the eternal reality? When we touch our lives, our legacies, our relationships, our impacts, will they refract in ripples? 

Christ invites us to lift up our gaze, see the real. He invites us, but also provides the key to the real world, of real touch, of eternity, where fairy tales come true, where we can press into the royal moss, lap the diamond sunlight, be caressed by the weeping willows. 
He is the revelation of the true God, the invisible, immortal clothed in flesh; the radiant burning in a humble man. He is the teacher of the true reality, showing us true wisdom and how to live in accord with the deep fabric of reality. He is the one who has opened wide heaven's door, giving us bold access to the throne of grace. He is the one who goes before us, preparing a place for us where all is real. He is the one who took on all the infirmities, failings, weakness of this poor reflection so we could be eternally with him. He was eternally changed, forever living in a glorified body (Phil. 3:21) so that we could be his brothers and sisters of which he is the firstborn, so we could mirror his glory, so we could share in his glorified body and life. And he will receive the glory as the creator of a new race, the firstborn, the glorified and risen one. See Christ, touch the Eternal One. Touch Reality himself, the Word, the Truth, the Life. 

And so we live in the reflection, but we look past. We see now as in a mirror faintly, but we are not arrested by the wavering, rippling beauty because we see, touch, taste, cherish the real. Look up!