"eternal happiness does not exist on this earth. we are constantly battered by the scathing storms of this world, and we often lose. but there are countless, brief moments of happiness in our lives, like the vanishing starlights of dawn, flickering and dreamlike. and those starlights will always remain in our hearts, warming us in our times of sorrow, until the darkness fades, the sky clears, and our sorrows wash away, that endless, pure, and beautiful world will finally appear before our eyes." 

 This is very first quote in my quote list. It is interesting that this quote is not a Christian quote, and though I don't remember the source since Xing was the one who shared it to me (I am pretty sure this was translated from Japanese and came from an anime/manga), the quote almost hits the reality of life from a Christian perspective.

The first line is the core of reality of the Gospel. Jesus has time and time again made it a point that we are not citizen of this world but the next. C.S. Lewis tells us that we were made for another world, and this world is just temporary and will be passing.

We get glimpses of the other world in our lives though (again taking themes from C.S. Lewis' Narnia and Surprised by Joy). Through friendships, marriages, baptisms, and worship we see glimpses of heaven, like starlight.

The last sentence echoes the truths and promises found in Revelations 21, "...and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away...Behold, I make all things new." I think this is what C.S. Lewis meant in Screwtape Letters to focus on eternity.