This Temporary Mediocre Sunset

I am a glutton for sunsets. Particularly sunsets over the water. And if you can throw a mountain or two in there somewhere, yes indeed! Imagine my surprise when I realized about 2 years ago that the little lobster town in Maine we have adopted as our favorite vacation spot allows just such a vision. I didn't even know this was geographically possible, considering Maine's "east coast" position, but the coastline is just crazy and curvy and bay-ridden enough to offer this:

Just wow. Am I right? And certainly the picture does it no justice at all, so yeah. . . in person. . . seriously, WOW!

This happened last week on the very first evening of our time in Stonington. And there I stood. Taking it in. And wondering.  How *do* you effectively collect and embrace and ingest an experience like this? So brilliant and perfect and enormous and glorious and yet so fleeting.

My thoughts couldn't help but tumble into pondering the new heavens and new earth. How do we even begin to wrap our minds around this promise of all things new? NOT all new things, mind you, but all things new. All things glorious and completely devoid of anything born of sin. Will sunsets like these last forever and never become boring? Honestly, I'm sure this looks like a dull pencil drawing compared to what we'll see then. But what will it look like when Christ comes to restore this very view? 

Come to think of it, we won't even have a sun anymore. Christ will be our radiant light. !!!! Will colors we've never even imagined before glow forth from his very presence? Will they transcend our current senses? Will green be warm, blue be fragrant, pink be soft, white sound like harmony? Will all of our senses be perfectly engaged in the most enjoyable experiences at every moment? How will that work? We know it won't be boring, so will those experiences change, or will our less distracted minds be eternally thrilled with the same smell and same sights and same sounds all the time? Or will we somehow experience ALL of our favorite things simultaneously but still individually? Just what will our glorified bodies be capable of?

Try as I might, I can't begin to wrap my mind around such things. 

But this I know. These heavens--the ones displaying the temporarily dazzling hues in this picture--spoke straight to my heart of the glory of my Creator. This vision was brief, but it *was* glorious to my still merely human senses. And as Pastor Ray Ortlund commented, this was easy for God. So easy. If that's true, what will we have to look forward to? What is he "saving" for us to experience eternally in his presence?

Are y'all tracking with me here? Are you giddy with anticipation as to what lies ahead? Does your "best day ever" cause you to wonder what that day might look like when this earth is fully restored and filled with his glory?

I've been daydreaming about this quite a bit lately.

And even on my best day, I can't even imagine. But also: I CAN'T WAIT! Come, Lord Jesus! Come!