How much have things really changed in
the last 400 years?
Quite a lot.
Cities have grown larger.
Buildings are certainly much taller.
We have electronic computers that
process data faster than ever and hold ever increasing amounts of it.
We have air travel and can find
ourselves on the other side of the world in a matter of hours.
With cell phones, people are now more
connected than ever before.
Yes, things have changed a great deal
in the last 400 years.
Yet how much have people changed,
generally speaking, in that same 400 years?
In reality, not much.
Corruption still exists.
Crime has certainly not gone away.
War, it seems, is a constant reality.
Having made my point, I will stop my
list there.
Although things have changed
dramatically in the last four centuries, we are still facing many of
the same problems as people did then.
We have even managed to create some new
ones along the way.
That is one of the reasons I am so glad
that in the class I teach we are studying “The Labyrinth of the
World and the Paradise of the Heart” by John Amos Comenius who
wrote this classic in the 1600's.
It is just as relevant today as when it
was written.
In this classic, Comenius depicts the
world as a labyrinth or maze full of twists, turns and deceptions.
When his main character, a pilgrim,
finishes his tour of the Labyrinth of the World, he is distraught
because the world offers no happiness and ultimately death itself..
Then
my bowels quaked, my whole body trembled, and, terrified, I fell
swooning to the ground, and cried mournfully : " Oh, most miserable, wretched, unhappy
mankind ! this, then, is your
last glory ! this the conclusion of your many splendid deeds ! this
the term of your learning and much
wisdom over which you glory so greatly ! this the rest and repose
that you crave after countless
labours and struggles ! this the immortality for which you ever hope
! Oh, that I had never been born,
never passed through the gate of life! For after the many vanities of
the world ; nothing but darkness
and horror are my part ! O God, God, God ! God, if Thou art a God,
have mercy on wretched
me ! "
All however, is not lost, for then he
encounters Jesus and finds the Paradise of the Heart.
Hearing such speech, and
understanding that He who spake was my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, of whom I had indeed heard somewhat
in the world, but superficially only, I folded my hands, and then stretched them out, not, as in
the world, with fear and doubt, but with full happiness and complete faith ; then I said : " I am
here, my Lord Jesus ; take me to Thee. Thine I wish to be, and to remain for ever. Speak to Thy
servant, and permit me to hear Thee ; tell me what Thou desirest, and grant that I find
pleasure in it ; lay on me what burden Thou thinkest fit, and grant that I may bear it ; employ me
for whatever purpose Thou desirest, and grant me that I may not be found wanting ; order me to
act according to Thy will, and grant me grace to do so. Let me be nothing, that Thou mayest be everything."
This is the turning point for the
pilgrim, for it is then that Christ tells him that, for a time, he
must reside in two worlds at the same time.
As believers, so do we.
We may not be able to change the world,
but with His help we may be the catalyst of change for some of its
people.
Our task remains the same.
We are to introduce people to Jesus.
It is He who will forever change them.
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
