Posted 3/26/20
Happy Thursday to all! What a week it has been! Cabin fever yet? Yup…me too. BUT, as I type, the early bird is already outside serenading the empty streets as if he is the lone flute in a parade. The squirrels are unpacking and gallivanting around, making all sorts of sounds in the process. I can (almost) hear the daffodils pushing through the non-permafrost like little yellow ninja daggers. Spring has sprung from my little perch overlooking the world. 🙂 Happy day to you all!
I hate to rip the band-aid off so abruptly, but my time is short and the work wakes up soon, so off we go. Today’s Shawshank Redemption Re:Dementia quote strikes a more pleasing note compared to some (some of these have sounded much more like a beginner oboe than a piccolo.) Today I want to talk about hope and freedom. First, here is what Red has to say in the end of the movie:
“I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey, whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”
https://screenrant.com/best-quotes-from-the-shawshank-redemption/
Very poignant part of our little movie…and, translated rightly, into our world. Oh, for mom to be free of this disease…
As I have mentioned lately, mom is and we are so very blessed to have such a gentle descent on the dementia express flight from relative happiness, through turbulence untold, and then to unspeakable joy in heaven. She is sleeping 20-22 hours a day these days, which makes us perfect bookends with me as I am awake the same schedule. She is happy, pain-free as far as she can express, and awaiting departing on the plane to her reward in heaven.
Mom’s reward, as is the case with anyone, wasn’t earned by good deeds, of which she had many. It wasn’t prevented by sin, of which she and we all had many too. The road to her reward was paved by another when Jesus came to this world and took on flesh that Christmas many moons ago. He lived a perfect and sinless life, and died on the cross, vicariously…in the place of…as a substitute for…as the penalty taker for…everyone who had ever believed in the coming Savior, for the believers at that time, and for every believer yet to come. That is the route from Christmas to Easter. That route is why I have peace and why mom “fears not”.
Is mom “free” yet? No. She still struggles. She is likely sad some days. She is likely mad some days although I never see it. BUT, someday this mess will be over and she will be able to see Who she has faith in, face-to-face. Unlike Red’s quote, her conclusion is certain. She isn’t concerned whether the other person will be waiting there…she knows He will. She has a firm, strong-foundation hope and will finally be free.
Speaking of hope, volumes can and should be written about this beautiful, misunderstood word. John Piper of Desiring God Ministries, has written many, many, many, many times about hope and its Object. Below is part of a piece he wrote during the Reagan Administration that is even more true today:
Three Ways We Use the Word “Hope”
We use the word hope in at least three different ways.
- Hope is the desire for something good in the future. The children might say, “I hope daddy gets home early tonight so we can play kickball after supper before his meeting.” In other words, they desire for him to get home early so that they can experience this good thing, namely, playing together after supper.
- Hope is the good thing in the future that we are desiring. We say, “Our hope is that Jim will arrive safely.” In other words, Jim’s safe arrival is the object of our hope.
- Hope is the reason why our hope might indeed come to pass. We say, “A good tailwind is our only hope of arriving on time.” In other words, the tailwind is the reason we may, in fact, achieve the future good that we desire. It’s our only hope.
So hope is used in three senses:
- A desire for something good in the future,
- the thing in the future that we desire, and
- the basis or reason for thinking that our desire may indeed be fulfilled.
I know not everyone at the Cornbread table agrees about the Source of my Hope. I am OK with that although I wish everyone would. But it is my hope that all would at least grab a Bible and consider what it says…. But we can agree to disagree and still love each other, right? I think so. 🙂
Last thought: the destination. 🙂 Will it be as blue as I have seen in my dreams? You have heard it said that we only use 10% of our brain, right? Einstein said it and he had a 160 IQ, so it must be right, right? Nope…a myth. A canard. Wishful thinking by positive humanists? We use 100% of our brains, but our brains get worse and worse over time. It is like a scale that balances knowledge and new learning capacity. The more knowledge we get as we age, experience life, live through wars and pandemics, and the like, the more we need to be able to learn new things and the harder it gets. It is an interesting dichotomy we all face. Then there is heaven. I believe, far more than I believe that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, that when we get to heaven we will have a nearly unlimited capacity/ability to learn without the limitations this messed up world with brokenness, disease, and sadness offers. We will be free of the self-imposed sin cuffs that hold us back. We will be free to see the Pacific, if you will, in such a rich blue that it will be a brand new, yet-to-be-seen color. Yet, unshackled minds must wait…. Until then we look to the sky and dream…and hope.
#EndALZ
Update: I had a Facetime yesterday, but mom slept through my 10 minutes. I told her all of the things I always do and I lean on the hope that it reached her subconscious mind in a state of happiness. I could be wrong…I am using 100% of my broken mind, but I would be amazed if she stays with us a few more months. I will miss her dearly, but I share her Hope of what is to come. Thanks, Red, for the topic today. 🙂