G.K. Chesteron

I borrowed a book from the Canal Fulton Library, Collected Works, by G.K. Chesterton.

This man is one of the great Christian writers; have you heard of him?  I just started reading the book and started with a short story, "The Wild Goose Game."  A boy sees a wild goose and just knows he has to chase it.  So he leaves everything behind and goes off on this adventure.  He's met up with a number of different birds already, but now he encounters a wise, old owl for answers as to how to find the beautiful, white, wild goose. 

The owl asks him why he wants to find this particular bird.  "I think," said the little boy, "I seem to have followed it because I couldn't get it."   "Logical," sniffed the Owl.  "No," replied the Boy, "not logical, only natural.  I looked at the white bird flapping far away against the fiery sunset and I seemed to long to spend my whole life seeking for it in the strange sunset lands.  I longed to follow it and find where it lived and all about it simply because it seemed as if the chase might last forever."

Chesterton's works have strong Christian themes running through them, and I suspect that the white bird has a deep-seated meaning, but I'll have to keep reading to find out.  Meanwhile, the writer has hooked me because we can all relate to this little boy and his quest.  I'd bet that each one of you who reads this blog has had some kind of quest that has gone on for a long, long while.  And I'd also be willing to bet that the quest continues in part because you have not been able to reach the goal.

We humans are wired that way by God, I think, because all of our lives the most important quest that we undertake -- that of reaching heaven -- is just over the horizon in the lands of the fiery sun.  We know so little about it and we want to know everything about it. 

Writers have been trying to tell us about heaven over the ages.  A more recent book, "Heaven is For Real," deals with a near death experience of a child.  One of the neatest parts of the book for me was when he saw his grandfather (whom he had never known), and recognized a picture of him in a photo album.  Another great part was his response in answer to questions that Catholics had asked about heaven.  He said that, yes, Mary was in heaven with Jesus and was always right by her.  In another book about heaven, this one written with a lot of Bible references, the author says that he believes we will play sports in heaven, have our own room, and visit with whomever we want but will tend to visit with the same people (our favorites).

 My sister always asks, "But where ARE they?"  This we do not know for sure.  Faith is not science.  Faith is believing in something that we cannot see, an amazing gift.  It is a gift we cannot explain to those who do not believe; it is a gift that we have to show through our lives and how we live them.

A Bible leader once said that faith is like a gift sitting on the table.  And it will continue to sit there all wrapped in finery until we take the time to open it. 

So if you haven't opened it, please do so.  If you have opened it, but it needs a little dusting off, please do so.  And if you haven't read Chesterton, make a little note and do so.

For doing the work of the Lord requires perspiration and also inspiration.