Daily Reading
Pursued and Redeemed
Our souls were made to live in the Larger Story, but as Chesterton discovered, we have forgotten our part:
We have all read in scientific books, and indeed, in all romances, the story of the man who has forgotten his name. This man walks about the streets and can see and appreciate everything; only he cannot remember who he is. Well, every man is that man in the story. Every man has forgotten who he is. ... We are all under the same mental calamity; we have all forgotten our names. We have all forgotten what we really are.
—Orthodoxy
We have all forgotten who we really are.
Every woman is in some way searching for, or running from, her beauty in the deepest meaning of that word. Every man is looking for, or avoiding, his strength. Why?
In some deep place within, we remember what we were made to be, we carry with us the memory of gods, image-bearers walking in the Garden. So why do we flee our essence? As hard as it may be for us to see our sin, it is far harder still for us to remember our glory. The pain of the memory of our former glory is so excruciating, we would rather stay in the pigsty than return to our true home. We are like Gomer, wife of the prophet Hosea, who preferred to live in an adulterous affair rather than be restored to her true love. Like Helen, we participated in our capture, though we were duped into it. And like Helen, our king has come for us, in spite of our unfaithfulness. If it is true that our identity comes from the impact we have on others, then our deepest and truest identity comes from the impact we’ve had on our most significant Other. Listen to the names he has given us: “No longer will they call you Deserted. ... They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After” (Isa. 62:4, 12).
In other words, we are the ones to be called Fought Over, Captured and Rescued, Pursued.
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Every woman is in some way searching for, or running from, her beauty in the deepest meaning of that word. Every man is looking for, or avoiding, his strength. Why?
In some deep place within, we remember what we were made to be, we carry with us the memory of gods, image-bearers walking in the Garden. So why do we flee our essence? As hard as it may be for us to see our sin, it is far harder still for us to remember our glory. The pain of the memory of our former glory is so excruciating, we would rather stay in the pigsty than return to our true home. We are like Gomer, wife of the prophet Hosea, who preferred to live in an adulterous affair rather than be restored to her true love. Like Helen, we participated in our capture, though we were duped into it. And like Helen, our king has come for us, in spite of our unfaithfulness. If it is true that our identity comes from the impact we have on others, then our deepest and truest identity comes from the impact we’ve had on our most significant Other. Listen to the names he has given us: “No longer will they call you Deserted. ... They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After” (Isa. 62:4, 12).
In other words, we are the ones to be called Fought Over, Captured and Rescued, Pursued.
Want More? Order your copy of The Sacred Romance today