| Strength and Beauty |
Chapter 5 |
Page 6 |
We need not wait till we get to heaven to find ourselves at home with God. Heaven may begin here any common day–it does begin when ever we enter truly into fellowship with God, when our will is lost in his, when the life of Christ becomes indeed our life. George MacDonald puts it well in one of his sermons:
“Never, in the midst of the good things of this lovely world, have I felt at home in it. Never has it shown me things lovely or grand enough to satisfy me. It is not all I should like for a place to live in. It may be that my unsatisfaction comes from not having eyes open enough, or keen enough, to see and understand what God has given; but it matters little whether the cause lie in the world or in myself, both being incomplete; God is, and all is well.
All that is needed to set the world right enough for me – and no empyrean heaven could be right for me without it – is that I care for God as he cares for me; that my will and desires keep time and harmony with his music; that I have no thought that springs from myself apart from him; that my individuality have the freedom that belongs to it as born of his individuality, and be in no slavery to my body or my ancestry, or my prejudices, or any impulse whatever from region unknown; that I be free by obedience to the law of my being, the live and live making will by which life is life, and my life is myself.”
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