some thoughts

Creation is a treasure house of illustrations about life, God, love, etc.

The moon, for example, is captivating. We can bear to look upon it with the naked eye. It haunts, it woos, it teases, it changes day to day, it hides itself, it shows itself. Sometimes there is much light, sometimes there is no light. Not so with the sun. The sun is always bright, always hot, (and, at least from our perspective,) unmoving and unmoveable. We can receive its warmth and heat, but we cannot look long upon it. It hides nothing, it wants nothing–it only gives. Nearly all other things upon which we depend, also depend on the sun. The moon turns the tides, but the sun holds the earth in its course.

Were we to focus only on the moon, our heads would spin. We would be caught up in the rising and falling of the tide. Those who know that the moon carries not its own light and heat, those who can enjoy all the wonder of the moon without displacing the sun’s place of anchor-sure supremacy, can enjoy it without being swept away by all its wiles. That is, a strong understanding of the sun’s role in creation will allow a much more peaceful enjoyment of all the moon has to offer.

So it is (quite blatantly) in our relationships with God and each other. Others have much to offer, they even have much of Christ to display and communicate to us on a daily basis (as does the moon for the sun). Many people are “tangible expressions of the love, mercy, patience and grace of Jesus Christ to us.” But, as Edwards says, “they are the beams, God is the sun.” Remembering this, and living this, really does take a daily effort to see behind whatever clouds may hang overhead in the morning, and there find, and drink in, the glory of the never-forsaking, always bright, always hot, always giving sun.

This idea is a good reminder for me — hope it helps someone out there, too.

…my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness [1] is;
so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”

Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
–Lamentations 3:17-26, ESV