“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
In our tradition, revelation, imagination and faith walk hand in hand with one another. Revelation is the act of God’s breaking into our narrow world. Imagination is our human capacity for hearing, seeing and dreaming what God might do. And Faith is our decision to wait, hope and believe in God and what he has promised to do.
I was charmed recently by a ten minute video on www.ted.com by a painter who lost her paints. She discovered the possibility of fishing nets and has shown millions of people the wind, sky and air through an entirely new medium. Artists help us to see things we never saw though they were quite visible, and to hear sounds that have been there all along. Cave art taught our ancestors to see the grace and beauty of running animals. The expressionists taught us to see puddles and their upside-down buildings! Ms. Echelman teaches us to see the wind.
God took Abram out to see the sky and its innumerable stars and the infinite possibilities of faith. Can all the earth worship God? Can the battered, dispirited Veterans I meet in the hospital find healing of their broken hearts? Can they know how their human frailty appeals irresistibly to the mercy of God? Could they suppose God loves them so much as to send his only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life?
As the artist teaches us to see, the Christian teaches us to believe. Like Abraham, she puts her faith in the Lord and receives the invaluable gift of righteousness. Gentled by the grace of God, she can live peaceably with her neighbors and friends; and sail with the winds of the Holy Spirit.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.