Denver Seminary

Communion took longer yesterday morning than expected. All the planned music listed in the bulletin had been sung and there were still people waiting to receive the bread and the wine. So the organist began a song that she and the congregation know by heart.

Open our eyes, Lord; we want to see Jesus.
To reach out and touch him, and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord; and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord; we want to see Jesus.

I am once again in Northern Wisconsin (see blog entries from last July). This is a place where seeing, listening and believing come easily for me. 

For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse (Romans 1:20).

“Invisible qualities...have been clearly seen.” How can that be? Invisibility and visual perception seem to be obvious contradictions.

Last fall I had opportunity to give a brief testimony. Each of us was asked to name the person and context of our coming to faith. Most people named a family member, friend or pastor who shared Christ’s gospel and invited them to believe in a predictable context – church, camp, youth group. To be sure, many individuals have had a hand in my own faith journey. But first and foremost, I named God’s work of general revelation in creation as my first witness to faith in God.

General or Universal Revelation is God’s self-disclosure through creation and human beings that is evident to all who will see. He does not hide himself from us. Rather, he is disclosing himself at all times and in all places.

So, here I am again, in the midst of the forest, lakes, and sky asking for my eyes and ears to be open and attentive to God’s evidence of his eternal power and his divine nature – those “invisible qualities” that have been “clearly seen.” 

God’s divine nature is that which makes him “wholly other” from everything else in existence. God is God; I am not God. He is perfectly holy, pure, just, righteous, benevolent, merciful, and more. I am not those things and can only aspire to them by the gracious action on my heart of a loving heavenly Father, the risen Christ, and the faithful prick of conscience coming from the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Here, in Wisconsin, I know myself to be small and finite in comparison to what I experience around me. I am always healthier from time spent taking in this good perspective adjustment.

God’s eternal power is evidenced in his creating, sustaining, and redeeming of all that is. This is what I most readily “see” here in the Northwoods. The magnificent extravagance of creation takes my breath away. I’ve seen five species of woodpecker – five! (Red bellied, red headed, hairy, downy, and pileated. No, these are not my own made-up names!) Each species has a different and distinct coloration, habit, call, and attitude.

There are thousands of tiny black tadpoles at the water’s edge. These are hopefuls of the familiar, green water frogs that we call “Nelson” – after the name of the lake – that hang around in the cattails and under the canoe. Only a few will survive to become full-fledged Nelsons.

There are also some frog singers at the end of the lake. Can’t see ‘em, but you can sure hear them. And, the sand toads are everywhere this year. The color of the sand and hiding among the leaves, they startle me as I walk the path. I praise God for every bug, mosquito or spider upon which they dine.

The sustaining and redeeming power of God is in plain sight through the cycle of life that is everywhere.[1] Life to death, death to life, winter to spring. A tiny pine tree sprouts out of the peat of an ancient rotting stump. The loon nest failed again this year because the eagle made dinner of the loon’s single egg. But the loon pair will stay with us for the summer, migrate south to their wintering home, and wait patiently for next spring and another opportunity to raise a loon chick.

The forest floor is carpeted with dancing fern. These stand eighteen inches high and magically capture the morning light as they sway in the breeze.

The frond is tightly closed at first, slowly unfurling when it is ready.

Looking closely, with a magnifying glass, the tiny veins in each individual leaf make me believe in miracles and in the power of God to care for the details of my own life.

I’m thankful that communion took longer than expected yesterday. I’m thankful for the reminder of the prayer request for God the Spirit to open our eyes and ears. I’m thankful for the forest and lake and sky that disclose to us God’s invisible qualities. 

Open our eyes, Lord; we want to see Jesus.

Asking The Three Questions

Who is God?

Making himself known through all that he has made.

Who am I?

Eager to see the Invisible.

How am I  living?

Trying not to blink!

©2009 Vine, Vision & Voice
Nancy R. Buschart

[1] God’s ultimate redemption of human beings comes through surrendering to Christ Jesus’ incarnation, death and resurrection, which is God’s power and character expressed in “special” rather than “general” revelation.