{"id":43641,"date":"2012-03-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/buddhist-poet-longs-for-deeper-hope\/"},"modified":"2012-03-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-05T00:00:00","slug":"buddhist-poet-longs-for-deeper-hope","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/buddhist-poet-longs-for-deeper-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Buddhist Poet Longs for a Deeper Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Author Os Guinness tells the hauntingly sad story about the beloved 19th century Japanese Haiku poet known as Issa. When he was a young child, Issa&#39;s mother died&mdash;the first of many tragedies in his life. Many years and many sorrows later (including the death of his daughter), Issa went to a Zen master for solace. The master reminded Issa what Zen Buddhism teaches: that the world is an illusion; like the morning dew our lives will evaporate with the rising sun.<\/p>\n\n<p>Although Issa remained committed to his Buddhist worldview, he still yearned for a more hopeful existence. (Christians would say that Issa shared our common longing for the hope of the Resurrection.) When he returned home he penned the following words:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The world is dew&mdash;<br>\nThe world is dew&mdash;<br>\nand yet,<br>\nand yet &hellip;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Guinness comments about Issa&#39;s poem:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Here is a truth that should make [us] stand still in [our] tracks, but it is expressed in such distilled beauty that the fragrance of its pathos &hellip; becomes such a jewel of poetry that its lesson is easily lost. Issa the orthodox Zen believer must say [that life is only dew], but Issa the father, the husband, the human being, with his agonized grief and tortured love can only cry into the unfulfilled darkness where Zen sheds no light, &quot;And yet &hellip;&quot; He feels the inescapable tension between the logic of what he believes and the logic of who he is.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Issa&#39;s &quot;and yet&quot; makes total sense and finds its hopeful satisfaction and fulfillment &hellip; when Christ swallows up death in victory: &quot;Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?&quot;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[405,411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3398,3527,3737,3839,3886,4167,4386,4828,4829,4830,4887],"tax_ctp_topics":[388],"class_list":["post-43641","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-afterlife","tax_ctp_tags-buddhism","tax_ctp_tags-death","tax_ctp_tags-easter","tax_ctp_tags-eternal-life","tax_ctp_tags-hope","tax_ctp_tags-longing","tax_ctp_tags-resurrection","tax_ctp_tags-resurrection-of-believers","tax_ctp_tags-resurrection-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-savior-christ-only"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Buddhist Poet Longs for a Deeper Hope - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/buddhist-poet-longs-for-deeper-hope\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buddhist Poet Longs for a Deeper Hope - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Author Os Guinness tells the hauntingly sad story about the beloved 19th century Japanese Haiku poet known as Issa. 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