I heard this quote from a friend who was quoting a friend. It's beautiful to me. The connection of God's people to the world and the relationship of the Holy Spirit working in the life of those he has called unto himself.
In assisting the 3 year olds in Sunday school class this year, I have learned just as much if not more than the children have in our lessons. Having no previous experience in teaching children, of course the question of indoctrination came to mind when it was time for them to memorize the Bible verse. Asking the kids to repeat after me and along with me, "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth..." It is kind of scary, to look down and see 8 bright little faces following you. During the lesson I thought, "Am I sure I'm teaching the kids Truth?... they're too young to think it out and decide...but if they aren't taught, how will they know?" and so on. Letting the thoughts surface, and then feeling the pleasure and comfort of seeing God's Truth all around.
This week in church, I thought about our blindness, and also our deafness, our muteness, our inability to see, until Christ begins to work in us. In college, my painting teacher, Jeff, was always full of good wisdom. In response to my question, "Do I paint what I see or what I know?" Jeff answered, "Both". And, I think so too in Christ, we learn, then we see, then we learn some more, he shows us his Truth, then we begin to see that too. As I was painting a still life, I didn't see other colors in the bright white highlight, like warm yellows and golds, or the deep purple and blue in the shadow, until I was told they were there. Now, I don't know how I could have missed all the colors right there in front of me. So, in painting we are taught to constantly go back and forth between what we see and what we know, what we see, then what we know, we question what we see and line it up with what we know, then take what we know and begin to see it, back and forth, back and forth, each enlightening and informing the other. I know this sounds good and idealistic, and the struggle is way more messy than this illustration. But, the sweetness of God's mercy is perfect, and he has given his Word to tell us about himself, and his Holy Spirit to cause us to see.
