We spend our lives living in tension.
The tension between right and wrong.
The tension between what is and what should be.
The tension between what we can do and what we should do.
The tension between what is real and what is true.
The tension of needing to lose your life to find it.
The tension of waiting for a Kingdom that has already come but is not yet here.
On earth as it is in heaven.
It's tempting, when the tension becomes tiring, to jump off the tight-rope into one extreme or the other.
We can't rescue every child from the streets, so why rescue any?
We can't save every tree in the rain forest, so why save any?
We can't pick every bit of litter from the ocean, so why pick any?
Or, we think we must save every child, every tree, every ocean, and end up burned out, jaded, or depressed.
But, every once in a while, we get a glimpse of why we walk in this tension, wearisome as it can be.
On earth as it is in heaven.
This morning, the entire school was gathered in the largest classroom of the school for a short church service before classes. After the children on the worship team led us in a few songs, a teacher instructed the children to take a minute to pray. "Just say something to God," he told them.
As I glanced around the room at the various ways the children were praying, I was struck by how beautifully unique their different prayers were.
A girl in Class 7 spoke quietly in English, with her hands raised in praise.
A Maasai girl with Down Syndrome whispered a prayer in the Maasai language, hands folded and head bowed.
A deaf boy's hands flowed with a graceful prayer, silent to us who are hearing.
A toddler sat on the floor, rolling her toy car back and forth, the sound of its wheels making a different sort of prayer.
Charity sat in her chair, rocking back and forth, perhaps with some thoughts running through her mind, perhaps not, but God heard her just the same.
I sat there, a teacher from suburban America, clutching my coffee mug and wondering how on earth I'd been so lucky to witness this little bit of heaven on earth. So many languages, so many tough circumstances, but God heard them all.
On earth as it is in heaven.
So, even though we can't save every child, we can save these children. Living in the tension means that we're never satisfied to save only these children, but we still save these.
Among these children, some will go on to secondary school, university, and successful careers, but some, like Charity, may never even learn to speak. Living in the tension means we still love all of these children the same, whether they may be the future president of Kenya, or whether they may need round-the-clock care for the rest of their lives.
We live in a fallen world, so we can't expect idyllic circumstances in our lives. But living in the tensions means bringing about these small moments of heaven on earth, because the Kingdom is coming and has already come, so we should live like it is and it has.
On earth as it is in heaven.
