Audible, Eternity, and Jewelry

I’m not sure what ties these topics together apart from my brain… so therein lies your fair warning.

First, audible – if you’re not obsessed, allow me to persuade you. I think it’s the best app that’s ever been created. For someone who never makes time to sit still (yes, probably something to address…), I can keep moving around making dinner, doing laundry, getting ready for work, cleaning my closet, etc. AND productively occupy my mind. Perfect for commuting. Perfect for road tripping. Perfect for the pool.

There is literally no excuse not to read every book worth your time. I’ve read more books in the past month than I have in the past year. My only caution to you is not to fall asleep listening. It’s really hard to find your spot the next morning…

That brings us to eternity, lol. I’ve been listening to N.T Wright’s book Surprised by Hope. If you’re not into theology, eschatology, and all that, then this is probably not going to be top of the list. BUT! It’s so good. Please pardon my preachy…

The main message of the book is that eternity starts now. We should live as “wide awake people” or as “resurrection people.” If we are in Christ, then we have been raised from the dead; this is not just a future state but a reality in our present (harkening back to Paul). Why does this matter? Because it means we matter. Our lives matter. The decisions we make now matter for eternity. Because eternity is now.

When life gets hard and when injustice triumphs (because it does), it’s easy to “escape” with an excuse that this world will always see suffering. It’s convenient to give up on the now because it’s fallen and will remain broken until the “new heaven and new earth.”

We take this approach with the best of intentions sometimes – we encourage ourselves and others with the hope that physical and emotional pain will be gone one day. That one day relationships will be restored and peace will prevail. My problem is that we can’t pretend away the now – we’ve likely all tried at some point. This world is our reality and we have to be concerned with it even when it’s not okay. Even when we are not okay.

“In the Bible, heaven and earth were made for each other.” We are citizens of both at the same time. N.T. Wright has coined a beautiful phrase that we live in a “post Easter world.” We get to let this truth change our life. “At certain points, they [heaven and earth] intersect and interlock. Jesus is the ultimate such point. We as Christians are meant to be such points derived from Him…the double life of Jesus, both heavenly and earthly, can become ours as well already in the present.”

This compels us to action. The post-Easter world changes our “attitudes, thinking, behavior.” We are here with a purpose – we have hope and redemption in Christ now, and we must not be apathetic to injustice.

So jewelry…y’all that was so smooth I was worried you’d miss it. Sharing about two organizations that I can’t get out of my head. They exist solely to wrestle with injustice in the world and offer hope. They embrace the dark corners, marred with trauma and heartbreak. They offer hope now, not just later. They are living the heavenly and the earthly together, and they invite us to join. I love that.

The Sanctuary Project is a community of human trafficking survivors who make beautiful products to spread hope. Each woman is restoring and rebuilding her “now.” They are beautiful and brave, and they are redeeming this world.

Recently, The Darling Detail teamed up with them to produce beautiful necklaces – crosses and stars. My star chocker is on its way, but here is the cross necklace.

I love wearing this reminder of redemption and hope in our present – no matter the state of my “now.”

Another inspiring organization is Fashion & Compassion – they help women regain economic mobility. The organization “creates empowerment communities where vulnerable women connect with God, one another and resources as their lives are transformed.”

Wrap (similar) / Cuff (similar)

Buying and wearing this jewelry is just one small way we can contribute to redeeming the now.

It’s really all about living awake to opportunities to not give up on the needs around us. It’s about inviting others along to live with us as “resurrection people.”

“It’s time to wake up! …the message of Easter…is not that there is a blissful life after death to look forward to. The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.”

Let’s show up. Let’s encourage redemption’s work in the big and in the small. Let’s welcome eternity in the now.