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Originally published: 29 September 2021 (WordPress)| Amended for republication: 25 October 2023
Reawakening to ‘Eternal Life’…where is it? When is it?
The Christian faith speaks much about “eternal life” or “everlasting life”. If we grew up in a home or community that declared adherence to Christianity and the Gospels, and allegiance to Jesus Christ, we would have heard, learnt, and likely repeated many, many times this text from John’s gospel:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16 NRSV).
It took me some time to appreciate the full power of this verse. Rather, than seeing ‘eternal life’ as something we will receive in some “sweet by-and-by,” the promise is for “life in abundance,” right here and now, as another verse in John’s gospel helps us see (John 10:10). And in the 1st letter of John”
“And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (1 John 5:11)
So, I find the following daily meditation of the late Henri Nouwen, once again, both helpful and important in drawing us back to the true and root meanings of ‘eternal life,’ and what it means to know and experience the In-dwelling God, here and now!
“Eternal life. Where is it? When is it? For a long time I have thought about eternal life as a life after all my birthdays have run out. For most of my years I have spoken about the eternal life as the “afterlife,” as “life after death.” But the older I become, the less interest my “afterlife” holds for me. Worrying not only about tomorrow, next year, and the next decade, but even about the next life, seems a false preoccupation. Wondering how things will be for me after I die seems, for the most part, a distraction. When my clear goal is the eternal life, that life must be reachable right now, where I am, because eternal life is life in and with God, and God is where I am here and now.
The great mystery of the spiritual life—the life in God—is that we don’t have to wait for it as something that will happen later. Jesus says: “Dwell in me as I dwell in you.” It is this divine in-dwelling that is eternal life. It is the active presence of God at the center of my living—the movement of God’s Spirit within us—that gives us the eternal life.”
Source: Henri Nouwen Society | Daily Meditation |29 September 2021
I’ve had many occasions to reflect on the meaning and reality of ‘eternal life,’ and what it means to have God’s indwelling presence in my life and journey. And many thoughts and emotions have surfaced, and continue to.
Let me share three poems that, for me, describe some aspects of what I feel Nouwen is getting at in his meditation above, and what I feel the New Testament passages I quoted (and others) are wanting us to understand, embrace, and embody in our daily lives, right here and now!
LIFE is Here!
LIFE is here! In the infinity of Now, The pulsating heart, The effortless breath, The sensual sounds all around, Nature’s panorama of splendour, The ever flowing canvas of delights! LIFE is here! In the serenity of solitude, The stirrings of love, The surety of faith, The glowing light of hope, Spirit’s majesty and mystery, The ever flowing music of grace! LIFE is here! In the power of Now, The invitations of goodness, The invocations of beauty, The impulses of truth, Divinity’s universe of possibility, The ever flowing dance of joy! LIFE, my life, is here! ©Roger Arendse 20160821
Joy NOW!
Joy NOW! Wow! The call is SO appealing! In desperate anticipation, I open up with fresh expectation! I even take to kneeling, Resist the countless attempts at stealing, Push aside the barriers concealing This Joy, Now! Wow! Yes! In this I simply must share, This tantalizing attraction, I feebly embrace the invitation! In postures of prayer, Through my darkest despair, I accept the bold dare, For Joy NOW! Wow! Your pull ever SO inspiring! I feel your palpitating pulsations! Your energetic elations! I bathe in your mesmerizing, The whole Universe conspiring! My expanding heart all a firing! No more, no more inquiring! Joy, NOW!! Wow!! This is no empty striving! This no hapless conniving! This is not simply dreaming! This is our gift for true living! Let’s open up wide to receiving! Joy NOW! Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! © Roger Arendse 20201211
Surrender…
I am invited, In this moment, Strange and surreal at first, To live my death, Whatever that may be, Or mean, or feel like, Within the rational scripts, And myriad frames, Of mortality’s space and time. Invited to surrender to my finitude, And to realise, Uncluttered and more fully, The infinity of Being, My authentic being, That transcends all obstacles, Obsessions and obligations, Which lay hold of mortal me, With sticky, grasping hands. For in invited death, I live my freedom from Death, And from the plethora of incessant, Fears, frustrations, and fevers, Which oft entangle mortal life, Freedom from the stream of extravagant, Discordant voices that lay claim, To this mortal being, as if This was all, my All. Invited into this mysterious flow, this Awakening and ethereal space, Beyond confines, Of flesh and blood, And all material wants, True freedom and redemption Come at last, And narcissism’s stare, Wholly broken and ended. No longer dim-eyed, But with dark veil drawn, I see clear-eyed, Into eternal dawn. © Roger Arendse 20120925
Reflection Exercise
- What, if anything, resonates with you in Henry Nouwen’s description of the “In-dwelling God” as “Here and Now”?
- In your own words, how would you describe “eternal life,” and what significance is it making in your own life right now?”
- What is giving you joy and fullness to your life right now?
- What may “surrender” mean for you in the daily activities of your life?
Please make time to comment.
Blessings!
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