Bali Dua

I recently bought a CD called ‘Bali Dua’, which boasts of wonderful, ambient Indonesian Gamelan music (and it comes with some incense sticks as well). This is the sequel to Jalan Jalan’s first album entitled ‘Bali’. From the pictures and films that I’ve seen, Bali is indeed a beautiful place, one which I would love to visit one day if I had the opportunity. Its culture and traditional wooden architectures have fascinated me for quite awhile, and the music from this album allows my mind to drift to this mysterious place…

Every time we wake up in the morning with news that another place has been bombed, even as hurricane Katrina and Rita have just left their marks in Southeastern United States, it gets a little bit harder to believe that the world is going to become a better place. The Kingdom of God? Coming? At hand? Chaos reigns. It’s much easier to believe that the world is coming to an end and that God is going to destroy it in judgment soon. Let the world go to Hell with all the evil in it…

So hard… so hard to hope for that which Jesus promised… the Kingdom of God… ‘I am making everything new!’ How long more? But as we sang ‘How Great Thou Art’ and a few other songs at church on Sunday morning, it was a reminder that God is still sovereign. Jesus is still Lord. Our God reigns. It’s hard to believe it in the midst of these circumstances, but I accept it. As we sang of the birds and the trees, the mountains and the stars, it reminded me that the world is still a beautiful place. God said, ‘It is good’. No doubt the world is fallen… but we have to believe that it is still good. And we have to hope that one day, it will be as it was then… as it should be… a world of beauty, justice, peace and love…

For now… we will just have to wait… and pray with the victims of the Bali bombings the prayer of Jesus – ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven’… to grieve in solidarity with them… to weep as Jesus wept when He saw the condition of Jerusalem. I saw an amateur clip on the news that showed the bomb exploding inside a restaurant. People chatting happily on dinner tables… a loud explosion… pitch black… darkness… people running… screams… horrifying, yet sad at the same time. It’s ironic… the second terrorist attack on Bali… Bali Dua indeed…

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." ~ Revelation 21:1-4

It is indeed foolish to speak of such things in times like these. Who would believe it? But such prophetic imagination will be the only source of hope for a world in anguish, while its leaders remain numb to the cry of the oppressed and those in mourning. Will the Church carry this counter-cultural, prophetic message to the world?

Lord, we are still waiting… How long O Lord?