March 24 - This World

(submitted by Dan Gildner)

Romans 8 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Caedmon's Call wrote a song called "This World" that said,
"This world has nothing for me and this world has everything.
All that I could want and nothing that I need."

I remember hearing the lyrics above for the first time in college wondering what they were actually writing about...and then I got Tetris. Yes, my family was about a decade behind in the whole technology craze and so I had to save my own skin for my first Nintendo Purchase. I bought Tetris. I had played it at a friend's house years before but it cost like $50 then-well beyond any high schoolers salary could afford. When I purchased it from a used books store, I got it for $1.

I stayed up every night with my cell biology book next to me playing one more game and then promising to study whatever Cell Biology was (I never did figure it out after my second failed exam and subsequent dropping of the course). But I never did get to the book...or my chores...or my essential reading...or praying...or exercising...or laughing at my brother who studied...or anything else for that matter. I was engrossed with Tetris.

So I was a little bit humbled as I went to church that Sunday morning (my mom made me turn off the video game for 90 minutes that day). Someone sang, "This World" in church and before I knew it, I was a blubbering idiot in my pew. I came to realize something that shaped my life. I was spending most of my time on pursuing my wants and absolutely no time on what I needed. Tetris, just like life, has everything I could ever want from a flesh standpoint and yet has no eternal value at all. The great thing about my binging with it though was that I realized that being consumed by my desires didn't produce peace, joy, or even a greater sense of love.

Because I am learning every day that as I see pain, suffering and longing in the world I should be reminded that something in me is longing for a HOME greater than the one I can see. My feet are steeped in the crap of this world's waste and yet they are leading me to a perfect sidewalk. I was created for That World. That home. That reality that gives sense to this one. When I feel the most pressure to be consumed or to consume, maybe I need to point my finger toward Pure North and call out for Home.