http://jenanardella.com/2012/09/could-we-still-believe/
“Or perhaps we long for them, in the way Isaiah longed for a New Jerusalem.” Yes, Isaiah’s New Jerusalem, so beautifully …. whole. As with true and perfect grace, the vision of New Jerusalem lies on the edge of being so… so…. [there don’t seem to be words, it’s a deeply felt, a knowing]. Try to not enter into the full vision, because…. well, because it hurts…not the vision, but rather than return to this reality acknowledging the the chasm between reality and vision.
“But what would happen if the Thou you were trying to serve, lied to you, hurt you or disappointed you with corruption – or if the I that wanted to serve began to fall short in his or her false sense of capabilities or large promises – could we still believe?“. Walking through this experience is certainly a trial. But isn’t it the same trial that each of us experiences, at least a tiny bit, in every single relationship we enter into, every interaction in which we allow ourselves to be vulnerable? We lay ourselves open to being lied to, being hurt, being disappointed. And there in lies the Christ. The Christ that says you can kill me, but you can’t take away my life, because my life belongs to God. My life, the place I live, the place I hope and breathe and wish and dream, lies within the Christ. It is within the Christ that all remains protected, sacred, safe, secure. And it is the Christ that forgives because the Christ cannot be marred or shaken or changed.