I am seated in heavy Nairobi traffic, watching the ever restless world crawl by outside my window. Horns are blaring, Nduthi guys are aggressively looking for just any gap to manouever into, and you can clearly see impatience written in bold across every single driver’s face. Yet, inside the cab, the chaos and background noise of life feels suddenly cut out, and my mind is completely gripped by a single, relentless prayer.
For days, I have been pondering over the words of Jonathan Edwards, who cried out to God to stamp eternity on his eyeballs. He prayed to be kept always mindful of the shortness of life, the solemnity of death, the glory of Christ and that he might spend every fleeting moment of his life, for the glory of God alone.
Lately, that old prayer has intensified into a quiet yearning within me.
We recently lost a colleague to a sudden, unexpected death. There is a specific kind of grief that comes with a sudden passing; it doesn’t look like the gentle, expected rest that follows a long illness where there is time to prepare, time to say goodbye, and a gradual letting go. A sudden death jolts you, and brings you face-to-face with your own mortality. One minute a colleague/friend is seated next to you sharing funny stories about their daughter, and the next one, they are no more.
It has made me look outside my window and realize how utterly engrossed we become in the fleeting affairs of this life. We consume ourselves with the immediate and current. We pour our souls into things that are fading away: climbing the corporate ladder, managing family dynamics, meticulously planning for weddings, catching up with friends, perfecting our skincare routines, dieting, hitting our workout goals, training for the next marathon, etc.
None of these things are inherently evil. In fact, they are beautiful parts of the human experience and the Lord has graciously given us the strength and ability to do them. However, too often, we pursue them and forget a sobering truth: we are just pilgrims here. This life is a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. We are almost home.
The money we chase so relentlessly? We will leave every cent behind immediately the Lord calls us home.
The bodies we strive so hard to keep in shape through dieting and workouts? They will eventually return to the dust.
The careers we pour our entire lives into, working late nights and taking on endless stress? The world will keep moving, the office will move on, and someone else will be sitting at our desk doing our job.
Literally everything in this world is transient except for that which is eternal.
Therefore, beloved:
“That promised land is calling, we’re almost home
And not a tear shall fall then, we’re almost home
Make ready now your souls for that kingdom come
No turning back we’re almost home”
Oh God, stamp eternity onto our eyeballs!