Glory and Beauty That Continues to Astound

Balaam's Ass and the Coming Glories

One of our favourite novels is Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.  The central character is an old, declining minister, John Ames.  Having married later in life, he is using his final days to write a long letter to his seven year old son.  He is attempting to put on paper what he would have liked to convey to his son as he grew up into manhood.

There are some beautiful and lyrical passages in the book.  Here is one of them:

This morning I have been trying to think about heaven, but without much success.  I don't know why I should expect to have any idea of heaven.  I could never have imagined this world if I hadn't spent almost eight decades walking around in it.  People talk about how wonderful the world seem to children, and that's true enough.  But children think they will grow into it and understand it, and I know very well that I will not, and would not if I had a dozen lives.  That's clearer to me every day. 

Every morning I'm like Adam waking up in Eden amazed at the cleverness of my hands and at the brilliance pouring into my mind through my eyes--old hands, old eyes, old mind, a very diminished Adam altogether, and still it is just remarkable.  What of me will I still have?  Well, this old body has been a pretty good companion.  Like Balaam's ass, it's seen the angel I haven't seen yet, and it's lying down in the path.   [Gilead, (New York: Picador, 2004),  p.66f.]

We find ourselves smiling at Ames's description of physical decline compared to Balaam's ass seeing the angel and lying down in the path.   We find ourselves challenged not to become a jaded eye, but to maintain that sense of wonder, joy, and delight in the glory of this world--which, though fallen--still astounds with its glory, and beauty, and complexity. 

For the Christian, growing old should never be an occasion for any loss of wonder and delight in God and His creation.  It should make us anticipate with great excitement the joy of seeing this glorious creation re-established, re-made--even better than Eden in its original and initial splendour.  And if we understand these things correctly, and embrace the glory of Christ's total re-creation of the universe, we will continue to be be delighted at the glories and wonders of this world as our bodies, like Balaam's ass, gradually lie down in the path. 

This, too, is part of the significance of Advent.