I’m reading a book that is speaking beautifully to what God is doing in my life right now. It is resonating deeply with me. It seems every chapter is putting words to something I have experienced, and at the same time inviting me to know more. I found out the author is a pastor in Portland. We live in the Pacific Northwest and sometimes visit Portland, so… maybe sometime on a trip we could go to his church and meet him. I have just a bit of nervous excitement, considering this possibility. I imagine I would have a great conversation with him, because I feel like he already understands me, and I him.

Has this ever happened to you? Maybe you have a favorite musical artist you would love to meet, because their music has touched you or been the soundtrack to significant seasons or events in your life. Or maybe, like me, you’ve read a book and felt connected so much to the message or story that you wanted to meet the author. Maybe there’s an actor who has played a role that resonated with you, and it would be a dream come true to meet him/her. Perhaps there’s someone in history that you long to meet. Maybe you admire someone who has changed their corner of the world with loving service to the poor or by championing social justice, and you would be honored just to get the chance to shake their hand.

Admiration often leads to a desire to connect. We see something, feel something, hear something that resonates with our selves and we feel seen and known. Sometimes we breath a sigh of relief that we are not alone. And sometimes we think how lovely it would be to meet the person who wrote/created/did that thing we connected with. When we feel seen and known – or when someone opens a portal for us to see and know something we were previously blind to – we automatically respond with an open-hearted desire for connection.

What if I could see God’s creating and doing and acting with these same eyes of admiration? How awe-inspiring it is to watch a sunrise or see dolphins playing in the ocean. I think about the incredible transformation of metamorphosis – a squishy grub becoming a beautiful winged insect. I think about trees that look dead in winter and every spring burst forth in fat buds of leaves and flowers. I think about the peace of a lake in the forest, or the power of a roaring waterfall. I think about all the selfless acts around the world – among my friends, on the news, and in books about times past. I think about all the heroes who have put others’ lives before their own.

And I think, what if I could meet that Guy – the very one who paints thousands of breathtaking sunsets. The one who made the dolphins, the birds, and all the beautiful, curious, strong, smart, playful creatures. He must be an incredible Guy! What if there is one Person behind every act of kindness, sacrifice, and love the world over, and I could meet him?! Talk about a celebrity of celebrities!

What if this Person could bear the full weight of my admiration: I would never find out he changed his mind about loving, or had an affair, or embezzled money, or alienated his children, or went bankrupt, or stopped telling the truth. Rather, the more I learned about him the more I witnessed his integrity. What if this desire I have to shake hands with someone I admire, or to have an intimate dinner with someone famous whose talents inspire me, or to connect with someone who has connected with me – whose words or music or life has entered the sacred spaces in my heart and comforted me or changed me or simply been my inner companion – what if all that desire is realized in Jesus? What if all the admiration and inspiration – the moments of connection and feeling known – were actually moments with Jesus?

What if the most incredible Personality ever to walk the earth knows who I am? And what if he wants to not only shake hands with me and have an intimate dinner with me, but also to be my best friend? To be seen with me and know that I am being seen with him. What if I found out those sunsets and songs were messages he was hoping would find their way to me? What if he is as excited to meet me as I am to meet him; and he is as excited to be my friend as I am to be his? What if he is so humble that I never feel less-than in his presence, yet so powerful and dynamic that I am infused with zest for life just being around him?

What if all the people I have admired, all the sunsets that have quieted my soul, all the words and music that have held me or inspired me or challenged me or made me feel seen – what if the Man behind all that doesn’t live in Portland, but right here? What if I could meet him right now? And what if, when I meet him – full of nervous anticipation, admiration, and self-consciousness-trying-to-be-calm – he says he wants to stay with me for a while (well, actually forever): to have intimate dinners every day, to write music together, to have me sit beside him as he paints the sky? What if all I have admired and all that has inspired me are the work of one Person who is as deeply interested in me as I am in him? What if every day he wants to see me and know me?

What if I start to become like him? What if I make more beautiful things? What if I commit more selfless acts? What if I do things that invite others to be seen and known?

And what if this friendship is not just for life, but for the afterlife? Not only does he want to live with me at my house, but he’s making a room for me in his opulent mansion. There’s a room with my name carved on the door. And there is music and celebration and acts of love and intimate dinners every day. Finally my heart is full. My admiration has met its object and I am overcome by a sense of completeness and wholeness I know I was always looking for. Hope has been fulfilled. My heart is at rest.

Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that’s how you’ll stay
That’s why, darling, it’s incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

– “Unforgettable” by Gordon Irving