Look Up, Look Ahead

“. . . I must say something to you, not regard to the power and the honour you bear in this evil world, nor with regard to the preservation of your corruptible mortal body (for it too is destined to pass away, and how long it may endure is always uncertain), but with regard to the salvation promised us by Christ. Because of it He was degraded and crucified here below, so that He might teach us rather to despise than to desire the good things of this world, and to set our affection and our hope upon that which He revealed in His resurrection ; for He ” is risen from the dead and dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion over Him.”

St. Augustine, Epistle CCXX (220).

Here Augustine teaches in this occasional letter that as result of God sending His Son to die for His people, they in turn reject the worldliness of the fallen cosmos and seek a better, eternal life. Of course, St. Augustine is no mystic, nor is his theology disparaging of life in the here and now. However, when all is said and done, no matter how much this world will reveal the glory of God, and according to Augustine we must strive to make it as wide as possible, the eternal verities are on an infinitely higher plane. We must “set our affections,” says the African Father, “upon that which is revealed in His resurrection.” Only a life lived fully in a completely resurrected body in a New Heaven and New Earth can truly satisfy us for we are made to live with God. His kingdom is forever.