The Rising Sun

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,

  shining ever brighter till the full light of day,

But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

  they do not know what makes them stumble. (Proverbs 4:18-19)

First thing. Note that it is the path of the righteous, not the path of the self-righteous. It is unfortunate that righteousness has such a bad name nowadays. Really the thing that is so unsavory is self-righteousness. Being in the right is not necessarily a bad thing, but most people do not handle it very well.

Recently my wife had a sprained ankle. It is a re-injury. Parts of her ankle and foot have become weak over time. The bones in her leg have shifted. She is having to learn how to walk rightly again with the right support and exercise. This is what righteousness is like. Training. Recovery. The joy of such training is walking rightly. Less pain. Greater freedom and strength.

In this case the freedom is expressed as the coming dawn. I like this quote from Dallas Willard: "As you grow older, the soul beings to function like a storehouse." For most of us, it is easy to store up anxiety and regret and dark thoughts. But I am happy to have even just a little glory being stored up in my life. Sometimes it is something good I was a part of, someone really good that I met, or something wonderful I've seen. I know when I'm on the right path when smaller and smaller things bring greater and greater praise and thanksgiving from my heart and mouth.

Wickedness is like a steamroller over the innocent. We always have such good reasons for it too. In the end it is constant instability and anxiety and frustration. It is not only stumbling, but running into horrible things you never quite expected. It's like bleeding in the middle of a frenzy of sharks. The language of the wicked is complaining and arguing and accusing. It takes less and less to make me more and more frustrated when I'm headed into darkness.

In the end, we will follow our teachers. Into light or into darkness we follow them. It reminds me of a prayer my family says during Advent season: "O Rising Sun, come to us from heaven and shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, and guide our feet into the path of peace." 

Be a Voice

In this dark, cold world
a voice cries out.
Just a city on a hill,
I am a lamp being lit,
not the light,
but another blind man
needing sight.

In this dry, barren world
a voice cries out.
Just speaking to the rock
of living water,
and just as thirsty, I say,
as every other wanderer
finding this one way.

In this empty shell of a world,
a voice cries out.
Just a word made flesh
dwelling among other men,
I am only a messenger,
not the speaker,
also desperate for the good news
to each Kingdom-seeker:
being found.

Cry out
in this wilderness world.
Be a voice,
just a voice,
for the Man.


One of the greatest freedoms in life is knowing what you don’t have to do.  It focuses the mind on what is necessary and saves me from just trying to get people to do what I want them to.  Like Mary, I want to find the “one thing needed.”  For John and myself, I see I am not the light, but only a witness.  I need not be so concerned with what people believe, but with what people see that I believe.

(Mediation on John 1:8)

Seek the Kingdom with Your Ears

 Only the good soil grows in the light of God.

               Some soil stays in the darkness of ignorance.

               Some soil takes no root in troubled storms.

               Some soil gets choked by weeds of greed and worry.

Only the good soil of listening grows in the light of God.

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The kingdom of God is a lamp shining out,

                                         never hidden

                                         never covered,

                                         placed on the lamp stand of the Christ,

                                         who shines most in the darkest places.

Light of God, shine on me!

Jesus Christ, lift up my eyes to the light!

The kingdom is everywhere shining

                              but seldom seen,

                           so blinding in Christ,

                              yet easily dismissed.

The humble God has hidden his light, his kingdom,

                                     in the Suffering Servant, Jesus,

                                     in the humble Teacher, Jesus,

                                     even in the wandering pilgrims

                                               who follow Jesus;

                                     hidden from those who think they know,

                                        but shown to those who want to know;

                                     hidden from those who are satisfied,

                                        but shown to those who are hungry;

                                     hidden from those who want to hide,

                                        but shown to those who want to walk in the light;

                                     hidden from the eyes,

                                        but shown to the ears.

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If you have ears in order to hear, listen!

                  Listen to a kingdom unseen.

                  Listen to its Teacher,

                                    who holds up the kingdom in his words.

                  Listen so that you may see!

                  Open your ears and look!

Lord, may your kingdom call out to me!

The value of the kingdom in found in its weight.

        Does it weigh in your heart?

        What is its measure?

        Your ear is the balance of the heart

                weighing one thing against another.

        What weighs upon you?

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The kingdom is heavier than it looks.

        far denser in its love, joy, and peace

             than it seems,

        seeming small compared to the world

             and yet heavier than this kingdom of the air,

        impossible to carry

             until Jesus picks up the other end.

Seek the kingdom of God with your ears.

Seek its light in the dark noise.

Seek its hiddenness from those who hide from God,

Seek its weight of love and glory

  and everything else will be yours.

Half-hearted half-listening will not bring half of the kingdom,

  but nothing.

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

Let your word grow this kingdom in my heart.

(A Meditation on Mark 4:21-25)

Hearing Before Seeing

The eye is the lamp of the body. (Matthew 6:22)

As I thought about the scripture immediately preceding this one - "Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth. . . , but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven" - I realized that just as lust and greed stare at objects and "store them up" for continued reflection and enjoyment, devotion and virtue can also use the eyes to store up things for reflection and enjoyment. Staring and focusing one's eyes is a method for storing things up in ones heart. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

I do not think it is accidental that Jesus teaching about the lamp of the body follows this treasure passage in the Sermon on the Mount. My eyes can store things in my heart and illuminate my body. The body can be a very dark place, full of unpredictable actions and confusing feelings, when the eye is turned away from the light of God and is focused on the desires of the body. I find myself quickly conflicted and frustrated.

When the eye is turned to the things that feed the soul with peace and order, such peace is stored in the heart, and then the body becomes a fully lit room. Instead of tripping over the body and its desires as in a dark room, the light gives such desires their place in my life.

What is this light for the eyes? Eyes are hungry. They long to see. They can be filled with words and images of God's goodness or with words and images that inflame the body and heart to lust and anger. The eyes fill the body with light or with darkness. They take in what the body enjoys and what the heart stores and ponders. I see that such light is not only perceiving things with my eyes, but really "seeing" them. I do not merely look, but I take in certain things and let them settle into my heart.

I must learn to use my eyes to see the Creation. I hear words, really. But I see what they create. I see ideas, inventions, and intentions from words. These are creations, too. When I connect the words to what I see, then I understand. Seeing is the completion of hearing. I hear, "Let there be light" and then I see, "And there was light." My eyes bring to light what words have been spoken in and through myself and also in and through others.

Dallas Willard says, "Faith is not opposed to knowledge, but opposed to sight." Blindness, however, does not necessarily increase faith. It is a matter of precedence. I do not see to believe, but rather I believe so I can see. Faith comes from hearing (Romans 10:14). Then the eyes are the lit lamp that illuminates the body and all creation.

Lord, let me learn how to hear so I can see. Let my seeing fill my body with light and store up treasures in my heart that cannot be stolen or fall into decay. Let my eyes be the lamp of my body. Amen.

Prayer as a Hike

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For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light. (Ps. 36:9)

The very spring of life as well as the very source of light come from God. Prayer seeks the source of light and life by following them closely. Finding a spring almost always involves a climb. Coming out of the forests or caves into the sun takes a hike. Such is prayer on many days - a climb, a hike.

In my experience prayer is work like a climb or a hike, but it is not merely work. I find vistas on the ways. The work warms me as I seek the sun. It is not all cold drudgery. God is faithful to make even the work pleasant.

If we follow light and life, we will, of course, be carried along in love. Love is the manner in which we go. It is the pounding heart, the effort to go on, the laughter on the way, and the anticipation of getting closer to the goal.

I am reminded of what prayer is: a journey along the streams of life to its fountainhead, breaking through the forests to the warm vistas above tree-line. We drink as we go and the water is sweeter every day. We see one vista only to be surprised by the next. Love is the sweat and work, the wonder and pleasure, the company and conversation.

Let us not tire of prayer. It is work, hard work. But not unpleasant or impossible. As we go, we will find what we need and those who will journey with us. They are already on the trail, too.