A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH
My
childhood memories are full of images of the goodness of Mother Nature.
I remember going out at dawn after a stormy night to gather delicious
mushrooms. I recall rushing home when cicadas would signal that dusk is
nigh. Dragonflies would swarm predictably at certain times of the year,
and birds of different colors and shapes would regale us with their
songs just outside the window of our wooden house.
The best though was what elders then called “agua de Mayo,” or
the first rains of May. While we were ordinarily discouraged from
bathing in the rain, the first rains of May were different. It was
believed to be beneficial for both body and soul.
Heaven and earth, for us then, formed just one simple reality. Graces
from above spelled copious blessings, too, from below. Rains from the
sky brought new life to the earth below that, in turn, produced crisp
fresh greens, and the rhythm of night and day, dark and light, only
meant that blessings and graces appeared in different forms at different
times. And so it was in our earth-inspired, simple theology and
spirituality.
I long for those simple days of abandon and abundance. We children were
carefree, and adults who labored each day in the fields were not unduly
worried about anything. Stress was a word that never crossed our minds.
But while I still look back with joy at those carefree days, I now look
forward to an infinitely better version of our own “heaven and earth”
with faith and hope. This is what my Catholic faith tells me. This is
what the passage from the Book of Revelation assures me of. Something
better is coming for those who believe — something greater and more
glorious — something that you and I can work for
together.
I wait for it in hope. I work for it in the same spirit of faith and
love, and I know that we, who are engaged in this world but with eyes
fixed on heaven, really await the coming of something new — new not in
substance, but in quality: a new heaven and a new earth! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTION: What does “a new heaven and a new earth” mean to you in your life right now?
Teach me, Lord, to never settle for the things of this world, but to await the fulfillment of Your promises.
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