Friday, April 20, 2007

Today’s text

1 John 3:23-24

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming and is already in the world.”

Prayer

Three words most please me, Dearest Friend: “in the flesh.” I read them and smile. They move consolation in my soul and mist my eyes. You … in the flesh.

You, my God, are deep, loving and hidden mystery. You dwell in an obscurity I can neither penetrate nor fathom. I cannot take the wings of the morning breeze and be carried into the place of your abode. I cannot think my way through the blinding light that surrounds your constant nearness.

I am flesh and blood. My skin interfaces the world, and through it I experience and know that I am real and alive. Only when you stand in the gentle light of day can I truly know you. And you do.

You wear our human flesh, revealing the inscrutable face of eternity. You do not remain an idea or concept, a transcendent magnetic power pulling us on to we know not what. You appear in ways that skin can know.

In you, my brother, Jesus, we see the beauty, the wonder, the loving joy, the fulfillment we never knew that we always wanted. Seeing you in the flesh, Loving Mystery, our eyes drink in the longing we could never quite name.

We confess you, my brother, as the gracious flesh of God, the mortal face of the Eternal Wonder. Thank you, Holy Mystery, that you show your life in ways that skin can know, for I would know you not just as transcendent wonder but as gracious friend, who desires my nearness as I desire you. Amen.

Pr. David L. Miller