Do we ache in vain?

As a boy I grew up going to church every Sunday. This usually consisted of two different segments: Sunday school, and big church (as we called it). It was in such a Sunday school class that I became very familiar with the story of Adam and Eve and the fall of man. You know, the snake comes, tempts Eve, she miss quotes God, Adam does nothing, Adam and Eve eat the fruit (if you had pictures you know it’s an apple), realize they’re stark naked, hide from God, and are banished from the garden. This takes place in Genesis 3. I knew the story inside out.

Let me submit to you that no human, save one, has ever fully comprehended the depth, the change, the corruption, and the sorrow of Genesis 3. There have been times in my life where it has been confirmed in my heart that this is indeed the case. Not because I have reached the great heights of Eden’s joy and splendor, but because I have taken part in the great ache in the depths of pain that has existed since Genesis 3. It is from this low point that I have looked up and can see we have fallen too far to comprehend the distance. It seems that every human, no matter how distant of close to civilization, no matter the nationality, no matter the upbringing, no matter the religion, will all find within him/herself a problem that needs to be fixed. It is from this ache that we must logically conclude that there once was, if even only for a moment, a time where things were right, for how can we learn to ache for something that has never existed?

“Each evening, from December to December,
Before you drift to sleep upon your cot,
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.

Ask every person if he's heard the story,
And tell it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot.

Where once it never rained till after sundown,
By eight a.m. the morning fog had flown...
Don't let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot.”

Let me take a step back from Christianity for a moment and ask a few questions:

Do you ever feel like the world is really messed up?
Do you ever think there was a time when it was right?
Do you think things could ever be right again?
And lastly…do you ever long for a time when thing will be right?

Almost all of us will answer “yes” to question one. The cynic, or the coward might disagree with two and three, but without exception we all identify with four. It is this great ache that haunts all of us, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, and alike. It is this ache that fuels some and curses others. How is that? Because some do not ache in vain…

I’ve heard it said that a human soul can go through just about any tragedy, or suffer most any loss, and continue on as long as they have a reason for it…the part about tragedy that gets most of us is that we don’t understand why it happened, and thus are crippled.

So do we ache in vain? Does this ache spur us to grieve for ourselves, or does it make us reach out to our broken brother, and hold fast until the ache is relieved?
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My friend, if there is one I thing I know, it’s that I ache for you…do I ache in vain? Shall we hold fast?



P.S.
DJ and Erin are married! Such a beautiful wedding! I love you guys!