"Watching a child acquire language, I realize, again, that naming things demystifies them."
~ Mary Casey
Naming a thing is, indeed, the first step to demystifying it.
(John 9:8) Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind ... (10) said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" (11) He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus ..."
Might the next step be to seek it out and examine the mystery firsthand?
(12) Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know."
One might next ask questions of someone knowledgeable ...
(13) They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees ...
But those who only acquire knowledge don't necessarily know a thing—or a person. To be sure, understanding begins with knowing a name and the truth behind the name. But pride may go on to think that possession of such knowledge grants a form of ownership which also allows definitions on our own terms.
God is easily both the most familiar name and most misdefined Person.
(16) Some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath... ( 24) We know that this Man is a sinner."
Whatever our knowledge base (or lack thereof), a personal encounter with the divine compels one to acknowledge His Person.
(30)The man answered and said to them, "... (33) If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."
And once we name Jesus the Son of God, can we do anything but worship?
Jesus ... said to [the blind man], "Do you believe in the Son of God?" He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him.
~ John 9:35-38 (NKJV)
In our worship, we both demystify God and comprehend our inability to demystify glorious God.
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Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Hoping to worship God in much of what I do today.
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
You inspire me, Wendy! Indeed, our moments of on-your-face worship don't mean as much if we're not worshiping throughout our days.
ReplyDeleteI love to worship Him.
ReplyDeleteThis post is poetic in how it reads, Anne. Love the thoughts. Worshipping with you.
ReplyDeleteDenise, I live for the day I might fall before those nail-scarred feet. Just to be near Him on my face ... good for me now, good for eternity.
ReplyDeletePoetic, Jason? Wow. I see that now, though I was thinking of Him, and not form, when I wrote this. Thanks!
ReplyDelete