Here's a nineteenth-century person riding along in his carriage on a dark but star-lit night, says Soren Kierkegaard, as paraphrased by Anne Ortlund.
He's got all his coach lights on, so as he drives along he can see in front of him just fine. But with those strong lights all around him he can't see the stars very well -- just the way if you're a materialist you can't see Jesus very well.
Now, says Kierkegaard, on this dark but star-lit night here comes a poor peasant. He has no carriage and no lights at all, so you'd think he'd get a glorious view of the stars. The only problem is, he's probably so busy looking down to make sure he doesn't fall in a hole, he doesn't see the stars, either.
And if you get rid of every single material possession -- just the business of living would certainly be more awkward, and probably be so distracting and consuming that you wouldn't fix your eyes on Jesus, either. Asceticism is no answer.
So the big question is: How many lanterns do you need? How many material things are just the right amount, to live efficiently enough and yet still have a good sight of Jesus?
The "good life" isn't achieved by gross consumption of material goods. (Do you know that the word "miser," one who hoards, and the word "misery" come from exactly the same root?)
But neither is "the good life" achieved by the least possible consumption of material goods.
Says Vernard Eller,
The point is that these things can be good -- very good -- if they are used to support man's relationship to God rather than compete with it.1
As I write these words I'm shut off from the phone and all activities, in the total quiet of a kind friend's beach condo, his "second home." At this moment it's a lantern to light my way to see how to write this book. My friend is using his condo not to "compete with God" but to "support man's relationship to Him." And I know his heart as well as I know my own -- that we both want to keep our lives dark enough to see the stars.
Nobody can tell you how many lanterns you personally need, and don't judge anyone else's decisions. The only point is, keep your own lanterns few enough so that most of all, you can see Him!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.2
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Prayer songs. Sing the hymn quoted above, and then, if you know it, sing to Him this one:
Open my eyes, Lord; I want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch Him and say that I love Him.
Open my ears, Lord; please help me to listen.
Open my eyes, Lord; I want to see Jesus!3
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1. The Simple Life, pp. 28-29.
2. Copyright 1922. Renewal 1950 by H.H. Lemmel. Assigned to Singspiration, Inc.
3. Words and music by Bob Cull. Copyright 1976 by Maranatha Music, Box 1396, Costa Mesa, California 92626.
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