The Unseen

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

While we were in Virginia last week, we stayed at the Crossroads Inn on Quantico Base, a military hotel.  Coming from California, it was a different world from the one in which we ordinarily live.  In this “world” of ours, everything we know has become impersonal and many are responding with anger and despair.  Not so at Quantico.

My first response to this Marine Corps base was to feel confined, for it had been many years since I was surrounded by discipline.  Our society has become lax, but this base was full of a different kind of life.  Little things stood out – When you are in a public place and leave your wallet on a table, you will come back and likely find it gone.  At Quantico, I had the feeling that we could come back in a couple of hours and find the wallet would still be there, or someone would have turned it in!  (And no, we did not test out the theory).

People were friendly and helpful, and the typical Marine we met, no matter what their rank, seemed to have a regard for God.  We had conversations with men and women all the way from a Corporal to a Major General, and all held eye contact with us in a non-confrontational manner, and had respect for the Lord.  We were driving Daniel and Candice Douglass’ car while on base, and it just didn’t work right for us.  The alarm went off – twice – and we could not stop it!  An older Marine officer came over and helped – Twice!  And when he realized we did not know our way around Quantico, he said, “Follow me,” and led the way in his car to the place we needed to go.

It was like another world, one that exists along side of “this” one, and yet it is seldom if ever seen by most in society.  There are actually many “worlds” in humanity, and most of us exist for years without even beginning to understand the different facets of what is called “life.”  The people in those apartments and houses near you often have lives far different from what you would expect.  Most of reality is unknown to us.

We caught another glimpse of life in relation to Chop-Chop Shuttle (recommended by Crossroads Inn on the base) and the driver-owner, Tony, who was the one taking us from Dulles International Airport, to Quantico, Virginia.

We have become used to an impersonal society, in which we increasingly do not notice one another.  The shuttle driver is just “the driver,” and he or she only seems to exist in relation to our need of the moment.  The same is true of the “passenger” who only is pertinent because they are going, at some point, to pay the fare.  In fact, the passenger is often called “the fare” by those in the business.

But it wasn’t like that with Tony.  When the airline lost our luggage and we had NOTHING for the night or the next day, Tony said he would drop us off at a Wal-Mart and pick us up after we were done buying clothing and other items.  He also changed his schedule in order to be at the airport for my wife Genevieve’s daughter-in-law, Candice, and then at other times, for her son, Shawn, and sister, Eileen.  And then we went on a short tour, an extra service for which he did not charge us at all.  He enabled us to visit the Vietnam Wall, the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean Memorial, on our way back to the airport.

Near the Vietnam Wall, we encountered a group of junior high children and the adults who were in charge of them.  Genevieve was wearing an AOWAC (Agent Orange Widows Awareness Coalition) sweatshirt, which has a color picture of her late husband, Bob, who died from Agent Orange-related cancer due to his service in Vietnam.  As we passed the group, one of the ladies, a teacher, was telling the children about the newest addition to the Wall, an In-Memory plaque, honoring the million or so Americans who have died from illnesses associated with the herbicide Agent Orange, since the war.  Genevieve stopped, showed them Bob’s picture, and began to tell them of her personal experience in relation to Agent Orange.  This Junior High group from New York and the adults with them, had eyes full of tears.  It was another world for them; a previously unseen world, that was suddenly and in a gentle way, made clear to them all.

There is another unseen world around us that few even imagine in this life, but it is one we shall all see in just a few years or decades.  It is the place where God resides, “for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).  All of us tend to seek the familiar, and we have some set of earthly circumstances we consider “comfortable,” but in reality, all this is passing away.

To the extent that we do NOT have what we want in this life, it feels like an “affliction” that cannot be satisfied.  If the need is great, it seems like (as Paul described it) our “outward man is perishing” – Life as we know it, can seem to be over.  And yet, Paul had very good advice for us all when he said, “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.”  That which is “not seen” is more important than what we “see,” especially when we consider that the “seen” is temporary, and the “unseen” will last forever.  And when we look to the Spirit of God, He will show us what we cannot see.

If you don’t think the “unseen” in life is important, consider the bacteria and viruses that cause disease.  They are “invisible” because they are outside of our physical abilities to perceive them.  They are too small to be seen with the naked eye; we cannot hear them, and our sense of smell is likely to be of little use.  We may touch them, but be unaware of the encounter until some time later, when it is too late to avoid the contact, and it is very much the same with angels, demons, cherubim, the Lord Himself, and whatever else may inhabit the realm we call “eternity.”  We are continually “touched” by this unseen world, but our normal senses are of no help.  We are both afflicted and blessed by such encounters, but for the most part don’t see the unseen – We need help from the Lord!

Father, we are “afflicted” in life, and for the most part we do not understand.  We come to You, Lord, because You DO understand, and You are the One who can help us.  We are sorry, Lord, that we did not look to You sooner, and we entrust ourselves to You now.  Thank You, Father, for giving us Your Son, who is with us forever.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.