Metropolitan Diameter

My three grandparents just got in tonight, happy to finally see some of the places I've mentioned before. They were also treated very well on their international flight, which was encouraging given the recent downer headlines about USA flights over here.

We took a bus straight through Tokyo to their hotel (2.5 hours), and I was reminded of a few things. First, it's a huge, sprawling city--easy to say but not exactly simple to realize when your address says Tokyo but two-story suburban housing surrounds you for 20 minutes in any direction. We passed by one office skyscraper after another, where many of those people crowding the trains are headed to or from at any given moment. Even at 8 PM, most of them were well lit; sadly, not every businessman will be heading home tonight.

Second: there is something beautiful about night city scenery. This may be obvious to some of you already, but this self-fashioned country boy has never seen much to enjoy about being surrounded by concrete--if I don't find any green somewhere, I'll probably write that place off pretty quick. Well, it's time to get off that snobbish horse and admit that modern group living can be attractive at times. The light dappling across ocean water under the massive bridges we rode was particularly charming.

Finally my thoughts turned to heaven, the eternal place that Jesus is preparing for those who love Him. What kind of residence would that be, where our light is not the sun but the Lord? where countless people experience Him? Concepts of space will be redefined; it won't matter whether my temporary earthly dwelling was mostly city or country; and the only lasting beauty can be fully understood for the first time.