"Invitation..........................."

My wife and I drove the granddaughter out to school this morning, the entire route, there and back, clothed in a misty fog. When Beth commented concerning her dislike of travelling with such loss of vision, I spoke to her of our moving through this world every day in like manner. We’ve been dealing with a personal matter this last year, one involving my grandson and a seeming complete lack of concern from many within the church. Today the judge makes a final decision that closes the matter in so far as punishment for one fellow; but we are yet left with many questions as to the way religiosity walked with us through it all. Others, for sure, face their own daily enigmas: the unexplained loss of a loved one, a traumatic medical diagnosis that doesn’t mesh with the message you’ve heard preached, and in one way or another nothing makes sense. The Bible speaks of it as being in “darkness”. Such term is one which we might well associate with “evil”, Jesus telling us in one place how men prefer it to “light” because of its ability to hide their sins; but, in truth, what it really speaks of is “ignorance”, a lack of understanding, and the only thing malevolent about it is a refusal to bring God’s presence into our void. In Psalms there is prophetic utterance referring to the Creator having “come “down” unto Christ in hell, the glory of the Almighty so great that the abysmal black was dispersed in all directions. While some may not agree, I find that same scenario playing out in the life of every believer, a “born-again” experience in no way having supplied us with all the answers and our journey yet one full of mysteries. What we have gained via the Cross is an inner reconnection, a means whereby the Spirit can rise and meet us in our confusion, in our failure to comprehend ourselves every bit as much as the situation. Surrender, though, is required of us as we go, no less now than it was when we first knelt at an altar. Salvation, it seems to me, is a work in progress, a ship under construction even as it sails through a stormy sea……