New

I think most of us are fine with the old heavens and the old earth. I, for one, haven’t seen more than a fraction of this earth, and although I have been in every province, I haven’t stepped foot in the northern territories or Labrador. As for the heavens, I don’t think plane travel counts as exploration of the skies.

But I have done my part in the wrack and ruin of good old planet Earth. I consume far more than I need at the expense of our environment and to the detriment of millions of people who go in want so that I may have.

The part of the new heaven and earth that is most appealing to me isn’t the possibility of grander vistas, but that God will dwell, bodily-whatever that will look like, as God is spirit-in our midst. God’s presence will drive away all sorrow, pain and death, which are the causes of all tears. God’s presence will mean that everyone will have enough, every need will be perfectly met; no one will have more, or less, than anyone else.

I wonder if this is what was meant in Genesis 1 when “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”

Creating God, thank you for heaven and earth, old and new. Dwell in our midst. Amen. — DAB