Well, today was a day of meetings for me. And it often surprises me, even on days when I am busy and have little time to reflect in between things, the way a thread of thought runs through the day and shows its colour in different moments, meetings, connections or conversations.
In my morning reflections, I found myself thinking about awareness and the things that help us to see more clearly, or to look more closely. A friend had made a comment about noticing the vividness of colour on her daily walks, as though perhaps being in the house the rest of the day stripped away some of life's distractions and made her more aware of the blue of the sky, or the green of the new growth on the bushes. There is the possibility, during these days of being more limited in our activities, that we hear the invitation to turn aside, to allow our senses to be more alert to things that on a normal day we would overlook or discount.
A little later, someone used the word 'behold' and it caught my attention. When we 'behold' something, we gaze on it. To behold something is to receive the gift of what it really is, to drink in a beautiful scene or the face of someone we love. There are so many things that can distract us from gazing upon, or drinking in the beauty of the person of Jesus. In these days, I hear so many Jesus-followers reflecting on the way this time of confinement, whether we are busy or not busy, can be a time of giving more of our attention to our relationship with him ... becoming more aware in the way my friend became more aware of the colours around her.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he described the Christian life as one in which "We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image." Maybe it's all the talk of face masks, but it gets me thinking what it takes to have an 'unveiled face.' Could the things that veil our faces sometimes be to do with our strategies for self-protection? Could my guardedness when I feel vulnerable result in a veiled vision of God? Could it be that my environment - the worldview soup I swim in - veils and distorts what I see of him? Maybe these are some of the things that stop me from fully beholding him?
What would it be like, not just to behold Jesus, but to do so with an unveiled face?
My day began with a reading that was accompanied by a Collect, a written prayer, that contained the phrase 'Strengthen us to proclaim your risen life.' When I drill down into that word proclaim, sifting from it the evangelical focus on the words I say, for me it echoes Paul's words to the Corinthian church about mirroring or reflecting Jesus, of my life becoming a message. So what would it look like for me to be strengthened - perhaps by beholding Jesus, taking more time to gaze on him - so that my life in all its dimensions becomes a sign, an indicator of resurrection life at work in the here and now?
I'm just going to ponder that while I come to grips with the fact that going out for exercise - something we will be permitted to do from Saturday - means we are allowed out for up to an hour, yes, but we have to stay within 1km of our home. Strengthen me, Lord, to proclaim your risen life!
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