“Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters. Creatures, I give you yourselves, I give to you forever this land of Narnia. I give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you myself.”
- C. S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew
There is something primal, foundational, and even holy about South Africa. Maybe I am adding 1 + 1 and getting 12, but some of the dots that I connected on this last visit were:
It is the area richest in natural resources of one of the most naturally rich continents
It is the place where the earliest origins of the human species have been discovered
It offers a diverse topography in one place that rivals the most beautiful places on earth
It is inhabited by every species (on land and sea) that occupy my grandest imaginations of the ark and the earth’s creation story
It is known for one of the most notorious racial narratives playing out on the world stage
It is where I have encountered the most earnest tribe of people yearning for the restoration of their country
In many ways, it feels like the country’s borders hold both the crown of creation and the hope of restoration.
If you asked me where I had most experienced a sense of the garden of Eden, I would have, until recently, said Kauai. But while it offers some of the breathtaking beauty I have seen in South Africa, I haven’t experienced all the rest of those things there. And maybe this is the way that everybody feels about the things that they are deeply called to, but it feels like the hope of the world rests on this small southern portion of that great continent.
In my own context, I hear a lot of desire to get back to the “way things were”. But the “way things were" weren’t exactly good times for many people. The people I am encountering there (amid greater racial tension and economic challenge than I have ever experienced here) aren’t yearning to get back, but to move forward to a better-restored version of things. Not as they were, but as they were intended to be. The “restoration of all things” that Jesus talked about.
Yes, at this challenging point in the human story, the hope of a restored earth has never been a more rescuing thought. But that requires hope and I feel, for most, that hope has been lost.
And interestingly enough, we are sharing our Kingdom business/leadership teaching with handfuls becoming hundreds turning into thousands, but what we are actually offering is something even more essential than that. We are restoring hope. The hope that there is a better day and a better way in their life, leadership, and business. There is an ancient path that includes their work that leads to a more abundant life.
While there seems to be some interest here, there is a growing multitude in South Africa and soon, many points beyond, extremely excited to taste, see and experience everything we have been given to offer.
Consider
Have you lost hope?
Where does your hope come from?
Are you giving your heart and hand to anything that holds the prospect of restoring yours?