The sun = Awesome!
The snow = Ugh!
I love warm, spring days with my family!
I’ve come to realize in recent years that the weather highly
affects my mood. Lauren is from Minnesota (They GET cold!), and she pointed out the reality of
“seasonal depression” when we lived in a shoebox apartment with barely any natural light in Brooklyn. Living
in Texas for most of my life, you just get hot and hot and humid as hell, HOT! The bottom line: I just like to
be outside when the weather is a glorious 70 degrees. Denver is probably one of the best places to live when it comes to
amazing seasons with excellent sunlight, year round. That being said, we do have a few weeks throughout the year
that are difficult to handle (I don’t think I could do the Midwest! Just
sayin’!). We have been having ridiculously beautiful spring weather lately, but just
one week ago, Denver received an ugly hex from Mother Nature, 6 inches of
snow!!! It didn’t last long, as the snow usually melts quickly around here.
Still, I was NOT a happy camper on Monday morning, May 12, 2014.
Caroline, on the other hand, really loves the snow. For the past
several months prior to the spring season, Lauren “encouraged” me to take CJ
out in the snow and let her play while taking fun pictures on our camera. Finally, I
reluctantly took the plunge and spent a few minutes with her in the snow the
other day.
Boots. Check.
Snow suit. Check.
Coat. Check.
Hat. Check.
“Happy” daddy with smile on his face… err…umm... okay… checkish!
I snapped some photos on both our camera, and my iPhone. Caroline fell a few times in her stormtrooper boots, but kept getting back up to touch more white snow. Finally, I gladly held her precious cold hand and we walked back into the warm house.
Then, it hit me.
I looked through the photos, and I saw the pure joy in CJ’s
face.
I re-processed those 5 minutes in the snow from her perspective.
I re-watched her cute face.
I re-analyzed her sense of awe, wonder and sheer beauty.
Caroline was awakened to something much deeper than her
daddy (who happens to be a really, slow learner.).
There’s a Hebrew word for this “amazing” experience that I’m
talking about, which is called, “Kavod.”
This word, “Kavod” in English is translated, “Glory!” In the
text Isaiah receives his fresh vision from the LORD in the Temple, and he saw
the presence of the Almighty along with some celestial, heavenly being singing,
"HOLY, HOLY HOLY is the LORD ALMIGHTY! THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF
HIS GLORY!”
Trying to define this word, “glory” is like trying to define
God. It’s highly complicated. It’s like trying to catch the wind with your bare
hands. You can feel it and know it’s there, but it’s ridiculously
mysterious – yet very simple for a child. Glory literally means “weight” or “significance”.
You know when you’ve experienced glory, something with true weight. For some,
it’s like watching Kevin Durant or LeBron James play basketball (For me, it is
when the San Antonio Spurs are playing lights out, team basketball!). For
Caroline, it is when she experiences AWE….. SOMEness as a toddler delighting in
the snow!
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about a man
named, Jacob. His father sent him on a journey to find a wife in a country
about 600 miles away. That’s a long, lonely journey. One evening, he found
himself alone, in the middle of the desert. He pulled up a rock for a pillow
(Ouch?). And, he had a psychedelic dream seemingly written by Hunter S.
Thompson. A stairway to heaven… angels were ascending and descending on
“Jacob’s Ladder.” A fresh vision from the LORD came, and God reminded Jacob of
his future blessing, reminding him that he would never forsake him.
Listen closely to the end of this story with the line that
changes everything … “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely
the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said,
“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is
the gate of heaven.” - Genesis 28:16-17
Did you hear that?
HOUSE OF God!
That’s what “Bethel” means, “House of God.” So, that’s the
name of this place on the literal map. This was epically mind blowing to Jacob.
God revealed His awesome-ness, and Jacob realized it AFTER the fact.
Did you hear the language he used in this scene, “Surely,
the LORD IS in this place (That’s present tense… He’s HERE!), and
I WAS not award of it (past tense). Oh, the beauty of amazing things happening
all of the time, all around us, and like Jacob, we just aren’t aware of it! So
often – and sadly – we have to learn this in hindsight.
Listen to the truth found in this passage. This earth is God’s
home!!!
This is a belief that began to influence Jacob and his
descendents who would become the nation of Israel. The prophets in the Bible
were deeply influenced by the understanding that the entire earth is soaked
with the presence of the Almighty God! According to the worldview before,
during and after the time of Jesus, God is not found somewhere else! He is
right here! It is HIS world. He made it. He’s always in it. God owns it, and
God’s beauty is manifested everywhere, even on snowy days. Thus, God is ever
present within every portion of it… 24/7! You cannot put God in a box.
Imagine if we really lived with the understanding that the
world was saturated with the divine. Heaven on earth… Imagine if we saw the
world in the ways in which a toddler sees fresh snow?
Artist Robbie Seay, wrote a song years ago called, “Breathing
Air Again.” The lyrics are filled with glory! He writes the following:
Take the time to start anew
Maybe it's in front of you
Take the time to walk down your street
And heaven knows who you might meet
In another line, he says, “Take the time to stop and
stare… Heaven's beauty everywhere.”
This is so true, and we know it when we have the eyes to see
and the ears to hear! I have many Christian/ church pet peeves, and one of them
is when pastors and leaders say things like, “Dude! Today was awesome! God
showed up.” Really, I wonder… so, God wasn’t here at all… ? You gave him a
ring, invited him and he showed up? Waaahhh???? He suddenly decided to show up?
That's just bad theology!
God simply waits for us to show up. He desires for his
children of all ages to WAKE UP, rain, snow or shine!
Kids do this waking up thing
really well, but adults somehow become bitter and cynical. We get picky, petty,
panicky and pathetic. Way to often, we are looking ahead to
what’s next, and we neglect to see the glory in the present world, all around
us. We often do this in church, at home, in our activities, with sports, the
entertainment world, and within our jobs. And, while the next thing might be
great (i.e. spring over winter, the warm sun over the cold snow) often, we
simply neglect what is right in front of us. The gift of GLORY is today! Blink,
and you might miss it.
This reminds me of a favorite quote from the 80’s classic,
“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t
stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Special thanks to many19-month-old
geniuses who simply "get it"!
Become a child.
Wake up.
See the world with eyes of
wonder.
Seize heaven today, and even, right now!
