It’s funny how a smell, a taste, a sound, or a feeling can trigger a vivid memory of the past. The other day I was having lunch with my wife and son. As we sat at the table with a fan humming in the open window on the warm Spring day, the ice in my glass was quickly melting and mixing with the sweet tea. Suddenly I was transported back forty plus years ago, sitting in my Grandma’s kitchen, the fan humming in the open window on a warm Spring day. I could taste the sweet tea with melting ice in it. Grandma’s ice always tasted like the freezer, a very unique taste. I could feel the cold plastic cup in my hand. It was a beige Raffia Ware Thermo Cup with ridges around the cup and a band of color around the top edge. She had the whole set in different colors, but my personal favorite was the brown one.
I was a young boy again for a moment, sitting at the table eating lunch with my Grandpa and Grandma. For a very brief moment, I did not have to worry about anything: no bills, no job, no teenagers, no car worries, no mortgage, no real responsibilities at all. My only responsibility that day was to stay out of the way of my grandma in the kitchen, “help” my grandpa outside with whatever task he was doing (probably working on a lawn mower), and maybe go climb a tree or two.
I was a young boy again for a moment, sitting at the table eating lunch with my Grandpa and Grandma. For a very brief moment, I did not have to worry about anything: no bills, no job, no teenagers, no car worries, no mortgage, no real responsibilities at all. My only responsibility that day was to stay out of the way of my grandma in the kitchen, “help” my grandpa outside with whatever task he was doing (probably working on a lawn mower), and maybe go climb a tree or two.
I think sometimes that is the same thing that happens with my soul and God. When I see a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or walk in the woods on a crisp Fall day, or dig in the dirt on a warm Spring day while the soil is still cool, or lie outside at night and just watch the stars as they travel on their paths; I am reminded of the future. Those sounds, smells, sights, remind me of a happy memory in the base of my being: being surrounded completely by the love and presence of God. Those times of immense beauty and pleasure are mere shadows of how life should be, and the promise of things yet to come.
Ps.19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
I Cor. 6:17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Jn. 17:22-23 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
Psalms 46:10-11“Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
