So we decided to change things up a little bit by “re-branding” Thursday’s Thoughts as The Sojourn. I think that this idea of a sojourn captures the Christian life and our engagement with people and the places that Christ calls us to. Our life path has been anything but boring. We have experienced seasons of high-intensity and slower paces, feeling settled and connected to a place and community, then the sense of being uprooted and disoriented. As of late, the notion of this life as a sojourn has become a resonating reality for us. What I mean by that is primarily informed by a Christian perspective and also longings that transcend what we experience in this world. While our time on this earth and in this life is temporary and fleeting, it simultaneously serves as a catalyst that calls for our engagement in the present with the people and places we find ourselves. Not to sound pessimistic or fatalistic, but the reality is that we don’t know the number of our days. While this thought could be sobering or even anxiety-inducing, it also can usher in perspective, enabling us to take stock of who we are and where we are, here and now, and also who we want to be.
Here and now for us, and probably you, is very different from what it was 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago. We change as people. Our communities change. Our physical locations change. We are faced with the loss of those who are dear to us. We say see you later to close friends who are called off on new adventures. We welcome newcomers into our community. Maybe you have felt the awkwardness of entering into a new community or context, I sure have. Regardless of where we find ourselves in the present, this sojourn is continually evolving. We are constantly learning how to adapt to new life contexts.
So then, what keeps us grounded in the present as we process the past and look towards the future as we continue on this sojourn? Or maybe a better question, if this life is temporal (and please don’t confuse temporality with meaninglessness), how do we locate our place and people, as we look toward our true home?
I think of Abraham who during his sojourn “was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God,” who was “seeking a homeland,” (Hebrews 11:10, 15). Most of us are probably familiar with this passage and how it teaches us what faith looks like. But maybe you are unfamiliar with this. Bear with me, and don’t worry, I’m not going to dive into the historical and literary contexts of this passage (although it’s totally worthwhile). Rather, I want to think about from another approach.
It’s undeniable that there is a lot of pain and suffering in this life. It’s equally undeniable that there is an abundance of beauty and good. One of the many beautiful things about Christianity is the hope of the radical transformation of this world. Thus, we are not called to escapism but to be the cultivators of good things in our lives and the community that we call home. We are called to be cultivators of the Kingdom that we long for.
In his book The God of The Garden (which is phenomenal), Andrew Peterson shares what runs through his head as he falls asleep:
“I imagine myself crashing through the walls of the universe, where Time and Space are held like a book in the hands of Jesus. He shows me the ending with a gleam in his eye. ‘Behold, I’m making all things new.’
I wake and it’s morning and the sun has crested the hill and cast its yellow beams on the stone arch. I rise again to work and keep the garden, for I am kept by love.”
The love of Christ. His continual presence and devotion to his people. That is what sustains us on this sojourn, for the good work we are called to do, until the day when we arrive where we were always meant be, and become who we were always meant to be. The Time and Space where the sojourn is behind us and we are able to breathe and rest because there is nothing left to do. The work is finished. The sojourn is complete. I pray that the future reality that awaits the cultivators of God’s kingdom sustains and gives us the strength and perspective we need today, and in the days ahead.