Heaven Drew Earth Up

"'He came down from heaven' can almost be transposed into 'Heaven drew earth up into it,' and locality, limitation, sleep, sweat, footsore weariness, frustration, pain, doubt, and death are, from before all worlds, known by God from within. The pure light walks the earth; the darkness, received into the heart of Deity, is there swallowed up. Where, except in uncreated light, can the darkness be drowned?"

` C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

Shine The Light

Heavenly Light

Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light,
And usher in the morning.
O shepherds, shudder not with fright,
But hear the angel's warning.
This child, now weak in infancy,
Our confidence and joy shall be,
The power of Satan breaking,
Our peace eternal making.

From "Break Forth O Heavenly Light"
by Johann Rist

Kindle a Fire Within

Lord, I pray that You may be a lamp for me in the darkness.

Touch my soul and kindle a fire within it,
that it may burn brightly and give light to my life.

Thus my body may truly become Your temple,
lit by Your perpetual flame burning on the altar of my heart.
And may the light within me shine on my brothers and sisters
that it may drive away the darkness of ignorance and sin from them also.

Thus let us be lights to the world,
manifesting the bright beauty of Your gospel to all around us.

- Columbanus (6th Century AD)

HT Kingdom People

  

About That Cover....

I absolutely love the cover of Elizabeth Scalia's book  Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life

The cover, as you can see to the left,  has a stained glass window- with a difference. Instead of images of saints and biblical characters, there are individual tiny images from our culture's most common diversions, distractions and attractions, including Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. I wonder if it is only a coincidence that we call the little images on our smart phones and tablets "icons."? Are we trying to worship these things, to use them as are sources of meaning and joy? Food for thought, and discussed in the book.

In the Catholic/Orthodox traditions, an icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn "image") is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting designed to symbolize spiritual realities. In the afterword of the book Scalia makes these points about the differences between religious Icons and our little icons, our idols of the heart, as symbolized on the cover:,

• An Icon looks out from Intrinsic light and points to its source; there are no shadows in which to hide.

• An idol looks out from man-created light and points to itself; invites us into the shadows.

• An Icon teaches us how to focus, how to quiet down, collect ourselves, and hear the small, still voice.

• An idol throws noise, images, and issues at us, non=stop, scatters our thinking, and deafens s to any voice but its own.

• An Icon whispers wisdom.

• An idol shouts soundbites and mindless trendspeak.

• An Icon inspires us to chant to the Most High.

• An idol inspires us to chant to it, and to ourselves.

• An Icon looks us straight in the eyes and dares us to pursue truth.

• An idol wears shades and tells us what we want to hear.

I hope that you have enjoyed the posted excerpts from this book that I have been posting over the past few weeks. For many of my readers, reading a book from a Catholic and non-evangelical tradition may be a stretch, and a journey outside of your comfort zone. If so, I think it is a journey worth the effort. I hope that you will consider getting and reading this book.

Illuminate the Earth

"Theology will not try to illuminate the heavens with a searchlight mounted on earth, but will try to see and understand earth in the light of heaven.” 

          - Karl Barth 'The First Commandment as an Axiom of Theology" p. 74