Thursday, January 10, 2013

Where do you see God?


Recently, I listened carefully as an old godly gentle man asked, "Where do you see God?"

He spoke in reverent tones about seeing God in nature, in places that few see because to get to them requires an effort (a long hike).

I agree. Some of my most wonderful moments with God have been in beautiful places of his creation. A few years ago a single shaft of sunlight, illuminating a thick mist, stopped my run on trail 7. I stopped in awe and praised.

It’s different, a lot different, but we can God in human beings. Isn’t that a major point Jesus makes in his story about feeding him when we feed the poor (Matt. 25)?

As I listened to the old man talk, this little Old English poem came to my mind.

I met a stranger yest'-er'en.
I put food in the eating place,
drink in the drinking place,
music in the listening place,
and in the name of the Triune,
He blessed myself and my house.
My cattle and my loved ones.

And the lark sang in His song:
Often, often, often goes
the Christ in the stranger's guise.
Often, often, often goes
the Christ in the stranger's guise.

I’m thinking it’s easier to see God in nature than in others, and I’m also thinking God wants us to see him in others more than anything else.

He knows if we do, then we’ll treat each other a whole lot better.

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