Comments on: The Answer to Her Longing – A Christmas Story

By: Yvette

Yvette — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 19:12:32 +0000

This was the one of the four stories I had not read. You speak beautifully in it of the sensucht, the longing provoked by moments and flashes of beauty that will only belong to us in full in eternity. C.S. Lewis speaks of this throughout his writings, but especially in The Weight of Glory.

Your heroine’s words “for she cannot be the child in the picture and the wife and mother, too.” bring me to a theory I have about the nature of the eternity which God has set in our hearts. (Ecclesiastes 3:11). I think in eternity she will be able to be both as all time past and future will be present. The more I think on this, the more I feel certain that we will find this true — or something like it but more beautiful and wondrous than we can now imagine.

By: Jody

Jody — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 01:15:49 +0000

In reply to Yvette. Oh, my! Such goodness, truth, and beauty in your comments, my friend! You've encapsulated the heart of the story in just a few sentences. What a gift you have.

By: Yvette

Yvette — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 00:52:35 +0000

Since I was a child, I have had the after-Christmas blues. They were, even then,what you describe– the longing for something unattainable, the sensucht, “an ache that is also a joy,” a holy longing for completeness, eternity, home, Ecclesiastes 3:11–He has set eternity in their hearts. God, who is outside time and place yet shows Himself to us in those finite dimensions which are passing away and we want more of their goodness and beauty. When we are in our true home and time is no longer (Revelation 10:6), when we step into eternity where He dwells, I think she can be “the child in the picture and the wife and mother, too.”

So much goodness, truth and beauty in your story!

By: Jody

Jody — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 18:11:06 +0000

In reply to Danielle White. Danielle, how lovely to hear from you today! I was just praying for you and missing you this morning. I'm so glad to know God is using my words in your beautiful life : )

By: Danielle White

Danielle White — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 17:11:14 +0000

Jody, you always pull at my heart strings and stir the Spirit within me. The Holy Spirit continues to work through you and your words. Thank you for being obedient to share them!

By: Jody

Jody — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 23:59:18 +0000

In reply to Kimalea Arrighi. Kimalea, I love that! So good to hear from you : )

By: Kimalea Arrighi

Kimalea Arrighi — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 16:03:57 +0000

Thank you for sharing your heart in this story. Like streams in the desert, God winds our lives back to him as our source of hope and meaning. Solomon wore himself out trying to figure life out. In the end, it was God who made sense of it all.

By: Jody

Jody — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 03:49:26 +0000

In reply to Richie. Thank you so much, Richie!

By: Richie

Richie — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 02:47:38 +0000

Jody, what a pleasure to see our hearts deep longing and our calling to our eternal dwelling come together in this story! Glad you folded in the insights from the perfect sermon – it was worth the wait!

~ Richie

By: Jody

Jody — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 18:00:57 +0000

In reply to Joyce la Vigne. Joyce, your comments touch ME every single time. I came to the computer reluctant today. Just a bit worn out by wonderful Christmas celebrations. Not sure if I have anything of value to share. And the first thing I see is this comment from you! Thank you for being such an encourager.