We are doomed to remain incomplete in our present existence. Our hopes and deepest longings will remain nothing but just that; Our hopes and longings. This bittersweet tension remains real, even for the Christian who increasingly becomes aware of the wonder of God and the inadequacy of our present grasp of that wonder. There is a sense of postponement, of longing, of wistful yearning, of groaning under the strain of having to tolerate the present when the future offers so much. Perhaps the finest statement of this exquisite agony is found in Augustine s cry, I am groaning with inexpressible groanings on my wanderer s path and remembering Jerusalem with my heart lifted up towards it - Jerusalem my homeland, Jerusalem my mother. We are exiled from our homeland - but its memories haunt us.
( Alister E. McGrath )
[ Intellectuals Don't Need God ]
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