Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
Don't we all perceive differently? Two people see a green rolled Oregon farm. One is in a car speeding by at 55 mph. The other is walking on the shoulder of the same road. They both see the same green hills, the same livestock, and the same rustic buildings. I doubt their perspectives are the same.
God's glory is all around us. We are in this world, but being in this world does not mean we are of this world. We choose to be affected, encumbered, consumed by all the man made things we have shaped, reformed, transformed. What do we see?
Portland is a marvelous place to live. I see the growing taller buildings, bridges everywhere, the boats in the river, parades, festivities, events. Portland is alive.
Others are glued to their i-this or i-that. It is difficult for them to see anything beyond their own schedule, but every once and a while even they are forced to look up and see Mt. Hood, like some ancient sentinel watching over the city.
Of all people we are most blessed. Do we see the regal, the beauty, the glory of God in Mt. Hood? Do we see the awesome power and timelessness at the coast? What do we see when we look at each other?
Would we do well to consider what future awaits humanity if we see each other as derivatives of pond scum? Is our existence only a statistical miracle lost on the barnacles that cling to anything reasonable for life?
Theology is real, marvelous. God lives inside theology as well as outside of theology. Our denial or affirmation of theology means little, but whether we affirm or deny the testimony that lives within our hearts is the key to seeing the glory of God.
How is it that the most important verse in the entire Bible is the shortest? Jesus wept. (John 11:35) What are the implications of God weeping?
Is it possible to look at one another and see the glory of God if we don't believe in God? Can we look at the hungry, the thirsty, the poor, the suffering ... and go on? Certainly it matters little to pond scum, but if we say we believe in God ... Jesus wept.
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