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Imagination Redeemed is still on hiatus, but as we prepare to relaunch, we have two bonus episodes to share with you. These are two talks that happened within 24 hours of each other at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Colorado Springs—and in fact, the teacher for this one was sitting in the audience for the other one, which we'll share next week. Both talks deal with the relationship of tears and grief to joy and our relationship with God.
In this first talk, a Sunday sermon on September 15 2024, church planter Chase Whitney emphasizes the significance of tears as a uniquely human experience, and discusses how joy and tears can make room for each other as we seek God in our lives. It's a beautiful exploration of how grief can bring us closer to Him.
“Tears are a remarkable thing, aren’t they? Tears can be present at almost any kind of experience in life. Some of us have shed tears at the birth of a child, at the graveside of a child, at the loss of the possibility of having a child. We’ve shed tears at birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, the beginning of a chapter, the closing of a chapter, reunions, goodbyes, victories, failures, moments of embarrassment, moments of transcendence, moments when we can’t stop laughing. Many of us have shed tears at moments of deep encounter with God and his manifest presence. And we’ve shed tears when we feel lost and confused because God seems really far away. I know for me, some of the most pivotal cornerstone seasons of my story are circumstances marked by tears; tears that come from a mix of a whole bunch of different things.” — Chase Whitney
“The Christian hope is not that all grief is erased but consoled. Not that all suffering is ended but it is mended, integrated, fulfilled, redeemed, transfigured. … Can you imagine the hand of Eternal Love himself reaching to touch your resurrected face, his eyes looking into yours, and wiping away your tears and everything contained in those tears—wiping them away personally, one at a time. Have you ever stopped to imagine that in the high timeless counsels of Almighty God, when Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were contemplating the Incarnation, that was one of the moments on their mind?” — Chase Whitney
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