Midweek Meditation: "Anticipation"

"We therefore live in anticipation, not fulfilment. Experiences which we have on earth can thus be seen as hints of something greater which is yet to come. If our real destiny lies with some good which lies beyond this world, we should expect to encounter hints of this goodness in this world. They will only be hints - yet they will be real, conveying to us something of what lies tantalizingly beyond us.

The overwhelming sense of joy that comes from achieving something worthwhile can thus be seen as a hint of something even more wonderful that is yet to come.On earth, such joy is transient, fading away with a speed which can frighten us as much as disappoint us. It seems so transient and brief. If we were to pursue such earthly joy for its own good, we would be doomed to frustration and bitterness. But what if such experiences of joy are not to be seen as things to be captured before they fade away, but as hints of a joy which we have yet to experience, something which awaits us?" (Alister McGrath, An Unknown God, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999, p28-9)

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