THE LONGING FOR A PERFECT HOME

Years ago, John Lennon of the Beatles wrote a very popular song entitled “Imagine.” This song encourages us to envision a world where there is neither heaven nor hell, no countries, and nothing to kill or die for—a world where all people live together as one, without selfishness.

Now, I can understand why this song resonates with so many. The idea of a world united in peace and harmony is truly beautiful. But, my friends, as attractive as this idea is, it overlooks a fundamental truth about human nature. The reality is, no matter how much we imagine, hope, or try, human nature is flawed. We are all sinners, prone to selfishness and wrongdoing.

Some interpret the song as blaming organized religion for the lack of world peace. But history teaches us a different lesson. The atheistic regimes of Stalin in Russia, Hitler in Germany, Pol Pot in Cambodia, and Chairman Mao in China were responsible for some of the most horrific atrocities known to humanity. It wasn’t religion that caused this suffering, but the absence of God and the presence of human sinfulness.

Lennon may have gotten it wrong in his song, but perhaps, he was trying to articulate something deeper. He might have been trying to express the natural, inner longing we all have for a perfect, heavenly home. God has hard-wired each and every one of us to seek and anticipate eternity. Deep within our hearts, we yearn for a place where all is made perfect, where there is no pain, no suffering, and no sin.

In Ecclesiastes 3:11, the Bible tells us that God “has set eternity in the human heart.” This means that there is a part of us that instinctively knows there is more to life than what we see. We long for a world where love, joy, and peace reign supreme. And that longing, my friends, is a glimpse of the heavenly home that awaits us.

Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan
May 28, 2024