The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis (Lord and King Assoc., Inc., 1976)
This passage came to my mind after I wrote my last article, so I dug it up as I found it to be fitting. If you are not familiar with this book, Screwtape is a type of devil, or demon, who is mentoring a younger demon, Wormwood. So when he mentions the Enemy, he is speaking of God.
The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which our Enemy has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present—either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure. (77)
Time is such a controlling part of our lives that it is hard to fathom eternity. Think for a moment about the present being the point which touches eternity. Do you get where Lewis was going with that idea? That’s how I felt about my weekend away (see last post). Sometimes it requires a step back from our schedule to take in the actual life that you are living. This is also why church is such a refuge of the future breaking into the present for us. Every Sunday morning we are a part of a covenant renewal ceremony, partaking in a communal worship of our God and Savior. The gospel message preached stays the same, as it proclaims the truth about our Creator, our sinful condition, and his redeeming love. Eternity is presented in our present time for either its horror, if you are not a believer, or its rapturous beauty for those united to Christ. This day of rest is a present pleasure our good Lord has provided to point toward the eternal rest we will have in Christ our beloved.