THE PRESENCE OF AN ABSENCE

I’m not sure if you were one that enjoyed your philosophy class in school or not. I had to work hard to wrestle with some of those “heady” concepts. Certain modern philosophers discussed the idea of a “presence of an absence”. The idea that “absence can be present and even more significant than presence itself.” What in the world does that mean? Consider these few examples – the remembrance of a loved one even after they are gone, or the longing for a vacation place lodged into your memory that you haven’t visited for some time. Basically, you feel a desire for something that isn’t there. If I haven’t lost you yet, here’s what I’m driving at. As citizens of heaven, we were built to long for something we haven’t yet experienced. And every time we feel disappointed as what this life has given or withheld, we instinctively long for what is absent in our present. That is a good thing! Being ultimately satisfied with what we have here on earth, outside of the presence of our Savior, would be misplaced. We long for something more, something greater, something absent in our current experience on planet earth. So … know that your disappointments are not a foreign concept any more than you being a stranger in this land is your reality. Your heart was built for more than this world has to offer. That absence you feel present in your life should lead you to seek first His Kingdom and long for the coming reign and rule of the King!