The Ache of the Unknown

Have you ever experienced the ache of things that you will never know?

The true conservative believes that God is at work in every culture, in every political system, in every nation. There may be systems that are more or less suited to curb man's sinful nature and ease the pain of throwing hundreds of sinners in a community together, but altogether no true conservative can completely discredit a nation as being outside of God's work. In fact, no true Christian can do that.

Which means, of course, that if a community is inside of God's work, then it is inside of God's beauty. Every culture -- though every culture has its own version of rampant immorality because people all have their own version of rampant immorality -- has in its own unique expression the unfettered glory of God. The language, the food, the marriage ceremonies...they all show undeniable evidence of the existence of God.

So then, I ache because I will never know it. There is beauty of God expressed in ways I will never be able to see, or that I will even be aware of. There are cultural traditions in which I will never partake.

The mystery of it is the diversity of God, too great for any one human being to comprehend.

But in the end, the ache is similar to the feeling of a sunset. That indescribable bittersweet sensation that makes you want to be a part of the sunset, that knows in a few minutes the sun will be gone and you are only glimpsing a second's worth of eternal beauty. I get that feeling when I experience another culture, because I know I am only touching a second of the eternal glory and work of God.