{"id":1419,"date":"2011-06-30T01:44:59","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T08:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richarddahlstrom.com\/?p=1419"},"modified":"2011-06-30T01:44:59","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T08:44:59","slug":"surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprised by joy? No…it’s just like God to give it!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

We\u2019d been hiking for a little while. \u00a0Up 1000 meters, and then down 1000. \u00a0Up another 1000, and then down again. \u00a0Then up one more time, and down half way to our final night at a hut. \u00a0The huts are the Alpine alternative to backpacking. \u00a0Instead of carrying everything with you, all you need is fresh underwear, a little soap and toothpaste, and a sheet. \u00a0The hut provides you with a bed, pillow, blanket, your beverage of choice, and a meal, all for around 50 Euro for the two of us. \u00a0Of course, the place comes with views that are unmatched by any Hilton, Sheraton, or Comfort Inn anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

We wake the last morning of our Alpine adventure and begin our hike out, down, and down, and down, all the way to Schaldming<\/a>, which is where I teach in December most years.\u00a0The valley, now seen in summer light, is stunning, filled with ever changing scenery as we make our way to lower, thicker air. \u00a0About 1\/3 of the way down, we come into a small opening where the trail crosses the stream. \u00a0Right at the crossing there\u2019s a tiny cabin, a barn, and a garden. \u00a0I stop and stare because at that moment, I feel as if I\u2019ve walked into perfection. \u00a0To say, \u201cYou had to be there\u201d<\/em><\/strong> is an understatement, because the moment was made of everything: \u00a0the generosity of the church that enabled us to enjoy this trip, the companionship of my best friend and only wife, the gift of health to enjoy it all, the waterfall and high alps behind me, the lush valley opening before me, the sound of the stream, and the feel of the clear water on my toes, and this piece of heaven, this cabin of perfection right in the midst of it all.<\/p>\n

Tears fill my eyes as I realize that this is my own version of CS Lewis\u2019 Surprised by Joy<\/em>. This is my glimpse of eternity. <\/em><\/strong> This is God\u2019s invitation, God\u2019s reminder that His creation, at its best, brings perfect joy, and offers a window through which we can peak at eternity.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are horrific injustices in the world, and it\u2019s strange to ponder that I\u2019m standing in the midst of perfection while my youngest child is walking through the genocide museum in Rwanda<\/a>. \u00a0Yes, there is violence, degradation, and the marks of our collective inability to run the show, and the marks are everywhere to be seen. \u00a0These blood stains, though, are a shabby excuse for unbelief. \u00a0Those who shake their fist at the god they don\u2019t believe in are terribly selective in their perceptions. \u00a0They see the crusades, but not the courage. \u00a0They see the injustice, but not the sacrifice. \u00a0They see the ugliness, but not the beauty.<\/p>\n

As for me, as I approached this glorious patch of holy ground, I had this sense of knowing \u2013 \u00a0\u201cKnowing\u201d that \u201call manner of things shall be well,\u201d<\/a> that in spite of all humanity has done to be unfaithful, God\u2019s relentless faithfulness will, in the end, prevail. \u00a0He\u2019ll restore it all, until the whole is shot through with glory.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s more. \u00a0In that moment, in that space by the cabin, all temptations, all the trinkets of this world that often seduce us seemed like a pile of dung. \u00a0Greed, lust, fear, shame, bitterness\u2026all of them were so unbecoming, so incongruous to the perfection of the place. \u00a0Who could hold onto sin in the midst of such light?<\/p>\n

CS Lewis\u2019 book Surprised by Joy<\/em> is his autobiography and testimony. \u00a0He was surprised because he wasn\u2019t expecting it. \u00a0Though I don\u2019t go looking for these moments of perfection, I\u2019m not surprised by them anymore. <\/em><\/strong>I\u2019m old enough to believe that, when our hearts are even vaguely in pursuit of companionship with our creator, our senses are attuned to his glory and revelation. \u00a0When that happens, God breaks through, sometimes in oddest moments, like walking Aurora with a friend from the Commons<\/a> in Seattle \u2013 at other times, in the midst of our deepest loves which, in my case, means the mountains.<\/p>\n

Lord of all creation; <\/em><\/p>\n

Bless you for calling out to us, through the many waters, the mountains, the humble shelters, the hospitality of strangers, the shared humanity that transcends languages. \u00a0Thank you for breaking through, inviting us towards eternity, imparting hope and in so doing, exorcising our doubts and weariness. \u00a0The glimpses of glory are our bread for the journey. \u00a0May we so attune our hearts to hear your voice, to see your light, that we are fed by what you give us, this day and every day. <\/em><\/p>\n

Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Where do you find glimpses of hope and eternity?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019d been hiking for a little while. \u00a0Up 1000 meters, and then down 1000. \u00a0Up another 1000, and then down again. \u00a0Then up one more time, and down half way to our final night at a hut. \u00a0The huts are the Alpine alternative to backpacking. \u00a0Instead of carrying everything with you, all you need is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9,13],"tags":[25,31,23362],"class_list":["post-1419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creation","category-intimacy","category-life","tag-creation-2","tag-eternity","tag-intimacy"],"yoast_head":"\nSurprised by joy? No...it's just like God to give it!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We'd been hiking for a little while. \u00a0Up 1000 meters, and then down 1000. \u00a0Up another 1000, and then down again. \u00a0Then up one more time, and down half way\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Surprised by joy? No...it's just like God to give it!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We'd been hiking for a little while. \u00a0Up 1000 meters, and then down 1000. \u00a0Up another 1000, and then down again. \u00a0Then up one more time, and down half way\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-30T08:44:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/files\/2011\/06\/P1040087-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/\",\"name\":\"Surprised by joy? No...it's just like God to give it!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-30T08:44:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-06-30T08:44:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\"},\"description\":\"We'd been hiking for a little while. \u00a0Up 1000 meters, and then down 1000. \u00a0Up another 1000, and then down again. \u00a0Then up one more time, and down half way\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Surprised by joy? No…it’s just like God to give it!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\",\"name\":\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\",\"name\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\"},\"description\":\"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \\\"making the invisible God visible\\\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. It's working, as a wilderness ministry, homeless shelter, and community meals that serve those living on the margins are all pieces of Bethany's life. \\\"We're being the presence of Christ\\\" he says, \\\"and inviting everyone to join the adventure.\\\" Many have, making Bethany one of the fastest growing churches in America in 2009 according to Outreach Magazine.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/author\/richarddahlstrom\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Surprised by joy? No...it's just like God to give it!","description":"We'd been hiking for a little while. \u00a0Up 1000 meters, and then down 1000. \u00a0Up another 1000, and then down again. \u00a0Then up one more time, and down half way","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Surprised by joy? No...it's just like God to give it!","og_description":"We'd been hiking for a little while. \u00a0Up 1000 meters, and then down 1000. \u00a0Up another 1000, and then down again. \u00a0Then up one more time, and down half way","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/","og_site_name":"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything","article_published_time":"2011-06-30T08:44:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/files\/2011\/06\/P1040087-300x225.jpg"}],"author":"Richard Dahlstrom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Richard Dahlstrom","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/","name":"Surprised by joy? No...it's just like God to give it!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-06-30T08:44:59+00:00","dateModified":"2011-06-30T08:44:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728"},"description":"We'd been hiking for a little while. \u00a0Up 1000 meters, and then down 1000. \u00a0Up another 1000, and then down again. \u00a0Then up one more time, and down half way","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/06\/30\/surprised-by-joy-not-really-i-sort-of-expected-it\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Surprised by joy? No…it’s just like God to give it!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/","name":"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything","description":"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728","name":"Richard Dahlstrom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Richard Dahlstrom"},"description":"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \"making the invisible God visible\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. It's working, as a wilderness ministry, homeless shelter, and community meals that serve those living on the margins are all pieces of Bethany's life. \"We're being the presence of Christ\" he says, \"and inviting everyone to join the adventure.\" Many have, making Bethany one of the fastest growing churches in America in 2009 according to Outreach Magazine.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/author\/richarddahlstrom\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}