Parallels

Yesterday I was reading Heaven again and was stunned by a thought. The thought was triggered by Randy Alcorn’s parallel between new leaves in the spring and the new life to come.

It occurred to me that there are parallels between our human life span, the twenty-four hour day we live in, the seasons of the year, God’s plan for the earth, and probably innumerable other things I can’t wrap my head around.

Our life span: We are born (birth), we live through our “prime” (life), we get old (deterioration- some of us younger than others), we “die” (death), we are transformed and made whole and new and perfect (resurrection).

Our twenty-four hour day: We rise in the morning to a new day (birth), we go about our day (life), we get tired and worn down in the evening (deterioration), we sleep (death), we wake again renewed (resurrection).

The four seasons: Spring (birth), summer (life), fall (deterioration), winter (death), and spring (resurrection).

The earth: Creation (birth), the time in the Garden of Eden (life), after the fall and ongoing (deterioration), all of the flawed/evil/painful on earth destroyed (death), and the renewal of ALL things (resurrection).

These parallels seem extraordinarily congruent...

I read somewhere that people who try to put life in a nutshell belong in one... And I know this is oversimplified, but as a general set of parallels, this makes a lot of sense to me.

This idea gave the term “spring fever” a whole different meaning. Of course I long for spring, and am full of energy and ecstatic when it comes with all of it’s freshness and color and newness—just like I long to wake up refreshed, just like I long for a transformed body, just like I long for the transformed New Earth. This is the same longing from the micro level to the macro level.

I’m not a math person. As in not at all—not remotely, but this set of parallels, of repeated patterns within patterns, reminds me of fractals. It’s seems as if God is the ultimate fractal artist/mathematician/creator of patterns. HERE is an example of a fractal.... THIS one and THIS one are gorgeous too. There are fractals in nature too... You can Google them if you feel so inclined, they’re pretty awesome.

THIS song makes a lot more sense, the lyrics are below but don't miss the video, it's beautiful. This set of parallels explains why I’ve listened to it more than 160 times. It’s because that deeper yearning is there, the yearning for the renewal of all things, the yearning for transformation, the yearning for all to be made right.

Morning Yearning
A fingers touch upon my lips
It’s a morning yearning
It’s a morning yearning
Pull the curtains shut try to keep it dark
But the sun is burning
The sun is burning

The world awakens on the run
And we’ll soon be earning
We’ll soon be earning
With hopes of better days to come
That’s a morning yearning
Morning yearning

Morning yearning…

Another day another chance to get it right
Must I still be learning?
Must I still be learning?
Baby crying kept us up all night
With her morning yearning
With her morning yearning

Morning yearning…

Like a summer rose I’m a victim of the fall
But am soon returning
Soon returning
Your love’s the warmest place the sun ever shines
My morning yearning
My morning yearning

Morning yearning…
© Ben Harper