Eternal Life

“Now this is eternal life, that they should know You, the only true God...” John 17:2

On earth, only Jesus would really know what eternal life tastes like, and feels like. In John 17:2, He reveals that eternal life is knowing God. As a child, we walked around with a sense of wonder. Everything was new and exciting. Even a blade of grass could occupy us for a long stretch of time. I remember when my son Josh would examine the wrapping paper with curiosity instead of the gift that came inside it. What happened to that sense of everything being a gift, a delight? What happened to the eagerness with which we greeted each day? I imagine that the appreciation for the newness of life’s pleasures each day would capture a little bit of what eternal life is.  

In the memoir, “Find Me Unafraid”, Kennedy Odede and his wife Jessica, wrote about the horrors of growing up in the evil-infested Kibera slums of Nairobi. Kennedy had to steal to eat. He witnessed friends and family murdered before his eyes, he was repeatedly beaten by his father, and he was raped by a priest. In spite of all that, he and his wife founded schools for girls and a community organization called Shining Hope for Communities. 

David Brooks, a journalist of New York Times, who noticed that Kennedy was full of joy, asked him how he is able to retain that sense of joy and wonder in the midst of pain and suffering. Kennedy answered: “While I didn’t have food and couldn’t go to school or when I was the victim or witness of violence, I tried to appreciate things like the sunrise—something that everyone in the world shares and can find joy in no matter if you are rich or poor. Seeing the sunrise was always healing for me, it was a new day and it was a beauty to behold.”

Contrast that with what Harry Patterson said when asked what he knew now that he would have wanted to know as a boy. Harry sold millions of books under the pseudonym Jack Higgins, and he did it all, the Hollywood dream, cars, eating in the best places.  He said sadly, “When you get to the top, there’s nothing there.” 

Lord, may we always be grateful whatever our circumstance. Gratefulness connects us to You, the giver of every good gift!