Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

• 1 Corinthians 13:9-12

“Joy is distinct not only from pleasure in general but even from aesthetic pleasure. It must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing.”

• C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns: Essays by C.S. Lewis (Talking about Bicycles)

Sehnsucht is German for an intense yearning, longing, or craving.  It is more specific in craving than fernweh, which is basically the opposite of homesickness (far away sickness?).  In other words, a longing to be out there, but not specifically out “where.”  When I wrote about Sehnsucht before, I said there is a lot in the writings of C.S. Lewis where he longs for Joy.

I have been writing this series, haphazardly, because that is one thing C.S. Lewis and I have in common.  Our early lives were characterized by a deep longing for Joy.  He searched in classic literature while I searched in sitcoms.  We both found that Joy in Jesus Christ.

According to Google AI, aesthetic pleasure is the subjective, joyful feeling and deep appreciation that arises from experiencing something considered beautiful or harmonious, such as art, music, nature, or even a well-crafted idea. It is a complex, rewarding experience that goes beyond simple sensory gratification, involving intellectual engagement, cognitive processing, and an appreciation of the object’s intrinsic qualities rather than its practical or utilitarian value.

We accept Jesus and even then we only know in part.

This leaves us yearning, if we choose to really know Jesus more in a lifelong deep, passionate longing that can never be fulfilled completely until we are united in reality, seeing our Savior face-to-face.  We are connected to Jesus now as believers, but it is a spiritual connection.  Upon being with Him, it will be an end to our journey.  We will know in full.

But until then, we will move on.  We will take the wonderful gifts God has given us and we will use those gifts for His glory.  We will enjoy them.  We will revel in them.  But there will be that physical connection that is missing.  There will be that last revelation that our present physical bodies just simply cannot handle.  Yet, knowing that our bodies cannot handle it, we shall yearn for it.  To be forever in a state of spiritual awareness and intellectual fulfillment and knowledge.  Yes, aesthetic pleasure comes nowhere near the definition of being in the presence of our Savior and all the love He has for us.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.