The Middle Ages: Disease. Cities filled with sewage, rats, and dirty water. Physicians practice bloodletting (draining up to 80% of a patient’s blood), purging (meds to cause vomiting or diarrhea), and extreme sweat treatments. (Such so-called ‘heroic medicine’ often hastens the patient’s death.) You are better off poor—poor enough to avoid doctors, that is, but not so poor you risk starvation.
Women die in childbirth. Half the babies won’t reach 12 months. Half that do will die before age five. Burying children was part of life, and adults were not much better off. Life expectancy was 35 years.
But people found hope in church. Was it the “prosperity gospel”? Imagine one of today’s TV preachers: “Don’t be discouraged! God’s gonna turn things around. That new job is already on its way! I know you just used another dresser drawer for a baby coffin. But turn that frown upside down! Your check is in the mail!”
If it sounds ridiculous, it is. Old time Christians did not find hope in the things of earth—a new romance or dream job—their hope was in HEAVEN. Ours should be too. Why do we spend ALL our time dreaming about things on earth? Why do so many preachers speak only of God’s blessings in THIS life? Have we forgotten that Heaven is better than Earth?
Jesus talked about blessings IN HEAVEN. And not just once or twice—there are many verses about it. The Catholic church got this right: cathedrals are designed to make you think of heaven: high ceilings so you literally LOOK UP, colored light streaming in, angelic acoustics, statues that illustrate Biblical texts, and the entire building shaped like a cross. In a world with little recreation or entertainment, mass was the highlight of the week. (Have we not lost something with our 24/7 entertainment?)
Dear God, help us LOOK UP, to long for the blessings of Heaven, not the unsatisfying stuff of earth. Don’t let us be enticed by the dazzling things around us. Bless us with preachers and teachers who point us to heaven.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 