Developing our vision for God

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Preparing for Worship January 13, 2013

What kind of art paintings really impress you?  Is it that which bears the clearest Imageresemblance to how the world really looks?  (I think they call this “Realism”)  Perhaps you really enjoy art that catches a mood or an impression which is beyond or outside of a clear reproduction of its look (impressionism).  What we look for and enjoy in art says something about how we see and what we look for in the world.

Now let me ask you an epiphany question; “Where have you seen God at work lately?”  Even as I ask the question, I’m wondering to myself, “Is this a question that is more about where God is or about our seeing?”  It is certainly about both.  This is also an epiphany question, because where you see God at work is at some level an expression of God’s presence.  It is a manifestation of God.

I like to engage in this spiritual question discipline (Where have you seen God at work lately), because it helps us engage in the art of looking to see God at work.

This art comes to expression in us in our baptisms, where God’s working in our lives begins to take root and plants itself in promise and community and faithfulness.

Maybe art and spirituality have more in common than we often realize.  Perhaps coming to see God alive and at work in our lives and in the world around us is an artistic appreciation that comes with time and grace and our learning to see as well.Image

Thanks be to God who makes light and gives us sight, to God whose artistic expression fills the world around us and even seeks to shape the world we perceive.

Happy Epiphany!

Pastor Mitch