Wanderers in a Strange Land

"If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." ~C.S. Lewis
 

Recently, it hit me in a totally new way, and has continued to do so, that we as human beings really are other-worldly creatures. We are not made for this world. We are wanderers in a strange land, poor wayfaring strangers here. We're equipped for this world, but it's not our natural habitat.

What makes me think this? There are many things that have brought me to this conclusion. Let me list a few.

Desires which nothing in this world can satisfy. There are so many of these, are there not? We hate goodbyes, whether that goodbye is temporary or long-term; we want to be with our friends and loved ones forever. We also want friendships that go so much deeper than is humanly possible. I don't know if I can describe this desire, but hopefully you've felt it and you know what I'm talking about. We want to live in bliss and peace and simplicity, we want adventure... we want so many things that this world cannot give us, not to the degree that we want. Where did these desires come from, if they're not the deepest longings of our immortal souls, and hints of what we secretly know we can have?

Time doesn't make sense to our brains. Some people object to that, but think about it this way: sometimes, under certain circumstances (bored, in pain, etc.) it can seem like certain periods of time last forever. For me, 1-hour workouts seem to last half the day. ;) Other sets of circumstances will make time seem like it's going so much faster than it is: when I'm with my best friends, it seems like a day will flash by in a matter of a few minutes; Yet sometimes, when I look back on fun things that I did, it seems like I lived a month or a year in just one day that seemed to last for just a minute. (Things are getting crazy now, huh?) I submit that our brains really weren't designed to pay attention to time--we're designed for eternity, where time will be entirely different because it will go on forever. Perhaps it won't even go linearly, not the way we're used to... goodness, I don't know. 

Human beings firmly believe in happy endings. Where are the happy endings on earth? ...there aren't any. The ultimate ending of every person is death, and that means leaving loved ones behind. That means broken hearts. There aren't ANY permanent happy endings on earth, no "happily ever after". Why do we believe in it, then? Where is the basis for this belief, if not the reality that there will be a happily ever after someday? The reality that someday, the just will be rewarded, and repentant sinners will be shown mercy, and the hero will live happily ever after? This idea is also firmly tied to a simultaneous devotion to both justice and mercy. 

There are so many more examples that I won't take up time by listing here. 
But my friends, we're creatures for another world. We were designed for only a short stay here. Hence, our bodies begin falling apart before we even reach full maturity. But after our short stay is over, we get to go back home for real--back to the home where there is no more pain. Where our otherworldly desires are realized. Where time goes on forever. And where there's such a thing as a happily ever after.