Photo: A visual feast in the valley on the way to my daughter’s house
EXPRESSIONS Look without! Behold the beauty of the day, The shout of color to glad color, rocks and trees, and sun and seas, and wind and sky: All these are God’s expression, art work of His hand, which men must love ere they can understand. ~ Richard Hovey
Photo: fireweed reflection
I love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
(Psalm 116)
Why is it important that you are with God and God alone on the mountain top? It’s important because it’s the place in which you can listen to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved. To pray is to listen to the One who calls you “my beloved daughter,” “my beloved son,” my beloved child.” To pray is to let that voice speak to the center of your being, to your guts, and let that voice resound in your whole being.
–Henri Nouwen
The truth dawns
“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.” -Jesus
(John 4:23-24 The Message)
I used to think that this passage, often translated “worship Him in spirit and in truth,” was about balancing left brain and right brain approaches to life, that is, the intuitive feely stuff versus solid doctrinal fact-filled logical study. My interpretation was an attempt to find balance between my flag-waving, dancing-in-the-aisles, go-with-the-flow friends and my chapter-and-verse, decently-and-in-order friends. Then I started thinking, since when is worshiping God in spirit not worshiping in truth, and since when does worship in truth not involve the spirit? I checked with a Koine Greek scholar and he said those two words are not separated in the Greek. It does not say “worship Him in spirit but also worship Him in truth”. It says “worship Him in spiritandtruth.”
The discussion Jesus was having with the Samaritan woman was about where proper worship should take place. He answered her place question by saying the time is coming -oh, wait a second, it’s here now- that you will worship Him in the reality of the spiritual.
Paul wrote in Colossians 1:27: For I am a minister of the Church by divine commission, a commission granted to me for your benefit and for a special purpose: that I might fully declare God’s word—that sacred mystery which up to now has been hidden in every age and every generation, but which is now as clear as daylight to those who love God. They are those to whom God has planned to give a vision of the full wonder and splendour of his secret plan for the sons of men. Yes, and the secret is simply this: Christ in you! Christ in you bringing with him the hope of all glorious things to come. (Phillips)
Christ in me?
Wow.
Daisies
“Not worlds on worlds, in phalanx deep, Need we to prove a God is here; The daisy, fresh from nature’s sleep, Tells of His hand in lines as clear.”
Edward Wilson
Charis: Subject to Change 