Reconciliation

At age 46, I hold to one belief that holds the trump card whenever I'm in doubt, and that belief is this: that God is reconciling all things to himself through Christ.

This belief, which I lift from Colossians 1, deciphers the mystery of life. It explains why I can be 46 and still think I'm 21. It explains why I love my children and want them to grow, but I already find sorrow in the thought that the days of lifting my kids on my shoulders are gone and that the days of wrestlemania, burrowing, and pig-getting are nearly finished. It explains why I wonder at 46 what my Dad and Mom were like at 46 -- that is, when I was 12 and they were 46, did they still somehow deep down feel that they were 22, as sometimes I still believe I am until I remember otherwise? And I wonder at their ages now if they still feel that same way. I wonder if I will make it that long, and I wonder if I will feel that way if I do make it that far. And this thought goes on and on -- what about the generation before them and the next one back and the one 20 generations previously.

I don't intend for this post to exhaust this topic or even to explain it in any meaningful way. But I have thought this for quite awhile -- and the only way this life makes sense to me (not just my life, but this life for all) is if Colossians captures it well. And I think it does. And that is what I believe.

And because I believe that -- instead of fearing the future -- I wait for it with great expectancy.