Orientation: This Side of the Glass

When I started college, I took an orientation course.  Orientation was not about the course itself, but about college.  Orientation was short compared to college---little bit of time about a much longer period of time.

Life is about eternity.  I am convinced that my life is an orientation for eternity.   Everything in the here and now is about the there and then.

I understood that orientation was about college.  Orientation was a means to an end.  The end was college.  Orientation lost its meaning if it was about orientation.  That was all very clear.  It was even easy.  Orientation would fulfill its purpose by relating to college.

Life is a lot easier to confuse.  It is easy for this life to be the end all.  It would help to think of it as orientation.  Our citizenship is in heaven.  We are strangers to this world.  We are looking through a glass darkly during this period of orientation.   But we are looking through the glass toward what?  Now isn't about loving this side of the glass, but about loving the other side.  That's why now is looking there, because now and here is about there and then.

To help with a correct perspective of this life, we might look at it as an orientation for eternity.  We could become less enthralled with the things of this life.   We could relate all of this life to the next, just like orientation for college relates to college.  Even food isn't about food.  Even food is about eternity.  The most mundane on this side of the glass is about the other side of the glass.

Jesus told us as much as possible to lay up treasures on the other side.   We don't do better to lay up treasures on this side.   We didn't bank all of college in orientation class.  Orientation was an investment into college.  Life is an orientation for eternity.  Let's treat it as such.