Pages

Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Weight of Glory

C.S. Lewis wrote: "Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning." ("The Weight of Glory") To provide a minuscule glimpse into what that 'meanwhile' implies, Lewis had been previously discussing the concept of glory: whether it be glory as fame, or glory as luminosity. It was a very lengthy, confusing, tangent-filled deliberation. However, in the end, a summation was provided that strongly resounded with my current state. This being that though we can consider our own glory too much, we can never do the same of all those around us. On a daily basis we interact with immortal beings, regardless of the fact that their mortality may be a result of an eternity in Heaven, or an eternity in Hell. With this in mind, Lewis poses a challenge to his readers: to constantly keep in mind that we help one another on to either of these destinations and to let that consideration permeate our interactions.
So here I am, after 6 1/2 weeks of camp, after much helping along to eternal destinations, not feeling much like considering the glory of others. Instead, I find in myself the disturbing tendency to think only of my self and my own happiness and satisfactions. In these muddy puddles I now squander, somehow hoping for contentment. Only when I have come to see these sins for what they are- muddy puddles that lead to worry, depression, bitterness- am I able to glimpse a portion of the glory of the Cross. A wooden cross is not glorious unless a person has considered what took place there. When sin is realized, when weakness is made known, when forgiveness is desired, then we see the glory of the Cross. To know that though I was at my most unloveable, that I was filthy rags, that I was actively rebelling against this Christ, to know that despite all that He sought after me to such an extent He sent His only Son to face one of the most brutal deaths known to man, to know that He did it for me: to know this is one of the greatest balms of all. The sunshine drying up my muddy puddles. His mercies are new every morning. It must be so, because Jesus asks us to daily take up our crosses, a task which we can not complete without His mercy. As we trek this path in hope of our Heavenly glories, we pursue the glories of others and take up our cross, remembering that: "the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning."