II Corinthians 4: “We do not lose heart!”, Paul says twice in this text. The hardships and suffering he’s faced do not define him and his vision of life, but his vision of what is unseen guides him forward. He stares at the unseen, which is the reality of the coming kingdom that is that which is truly real. What is real in our present isn’t fully real, because it doesn’t last, but what lasts and doesn’t fade is what is truly real. That is the coming resurrection and the coming kingdom.