Do you have moments when even in the midst of the most wonderful times–enjoying the holidays, relaxing on the beach with your family, sharing a good meal among friends–an unsettled feeling sometimes creeps in? Do you have moments when there is a gnawing sense that “things just aren’t what they’re supposed to be?”
I guess the feeling that comes closest to what I’m trying to describe is homesickness. If you’ve ever been away from home for long stretches of time, you know the feeling. I sometimes get it on the flight home from a well-spent vacation. It’s an odd feeling, and apparently a common one.
On the subject of homesickness, C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity famously wrote, ”If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” Philippians 3:20 certainly seems to confirm this: ”For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
No wonder we live much of life homesick!
Relatedly, consider this rueful insight from the incomparable Lewis. In the summer of ’63, C.S. Lewis had a heart attack. Later on he recovered and pointedly remarked, “I can’t help feeling it was rather a pity I did survive. I mean, having glided so painlessly up to the Gate it seems hard to have it shut in one’s face and know that the whole process must some day be gone through again, and perhaps less pleasantly. Poor Lazarus!”
Yes, Mr. Lewis, we can relate.
-Kevin Murray
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