Babylon Revisited

I recently read F. Scott Fitzgerald's Babylon Revisited, a short story first published in the United Kingdom in February, 1931, inside the Daily Telegraph. The story is well written but not satisfactory inasmuch as its ending is ambiguous and not necessarily happy. Charlie Wales had enjoyed life back in the roaring twenties but the heavy drinking, partying and family problems came to head with the Great Crash; he sought to recover his daughter but found that past mistakes came back to haunt him; previous actions’ consequences are very much part of the present.

Many of us review our lives and note the errors we have made and the penalties with which we must still live. These can prevent us from moving on; we cannot pick up the pieces because some of them are missing, or broken, or beyond restoration. Little wonder that the New Earth and Heavens, to which the Christians are going, seem to be characterised by freshness and newness, breaking free of the past and sin’s gruesome legacy. Wales might have revisited Babylon, but the Christian is going home to New Jerusalem, so cheer up. 

And he that sat upon the throne said “Behold, I make all things new”, and he said unto me “Write: for these things are faithful and true”. Revelation 21:5

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