Saints, Aliens, and Strangers

November 23, 2009

Saints, aliens, and strangers

Following on the heels of All Saints Day, I spent some time reading Hebrews 11 again, but with fresh eyes and ears.  This passage outlines the journeys of many faithful Hebrew saints (my title for them) and right in the middle is a rather poignant verse:

All these people were still living by faith when they died.  They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.  And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

Losing a son has taken my breath away and at times, left me feeling like I was from a different planet – quite literally an alien or stranger here on this earth.  Perhaps feeling like an alien and stranger is actually a good thing if it results in aspiring to different priorities and living in this world with more freedom and less stress on trying to control everyone and everything in order to accomplish my own agenda.

It also leaves me wondering about what faith means and what is does not mean. 

According to this passage, faith does not mean that I always get what I want or what I think has been promised to me.  In fact, none of these famous Hebrew saints – Abraham, Moses, Noah, and others – ever lived to see the promises made to them by God completely fulfilled.  Yet, they still believed and remained faithful throughout their lives.

Faith more likely means that I need to trust that God will eventually make all things new, even if I don’t get to always see it happen in my own experience on this earth.  Even in my trials and hardships, faith must mean that somehow God is still present, still blessing me in some amazing ways, and still loving me and wanting good things to come from these bad or tragic experiences.

At the same time, we should live as aliens and strangers, recognizing that we are not really permanent residents or citizens of this earth; we are simply on a journey through this life and this world. 

My son Daniel’s journey was shorter than I expected.  Though I miss him terribly, I need to also remember that he too was an alien and a stranger and thus was never meant to make a permanent residence here in the first place.  I only wish our journeys had overlapped longer.