Thursday, October 18, 2007

A Bit of Christian Mythos: Mythical Eyes

"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots...but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord...The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit..." Isaiah 31:1, 3

We are called to "walk by faith," i.e., walk in the constant acknowledgment of a higher reality. It made practical common sense to seek an alliance with a fellow nation; but God does not call His people to mere common sense, He has called us to the supernatural, the unseen, to Himself. We cannot seem to imagine going forward without a security net that we can see, handle, and control; God says we must. Our only hope is Him, and we cannot control or predict Him, and that frightens us.
"Man looketh on the outward...but the Lord looketh on the heart." (I Samuel 16:7) Humans, because of the Fall, can only properly and naturally grasp the physical reality. God exists where he can see and grasp all; and if we are His children, filled with His Spirit, we can and should do the same. It is the basis for "mythical eyes"--to see the magic of God's presence in all things, to really see an angel behind every bush and a demon within every shadow. Unless you see the world with mythical eyes, you will never truly see the world, and you will never truly know how to walk through it. May God open our eyes.

"This life is only an Echo
Of the Deeper Life to come.
This ache is born of Your Spirit in our hearts
Pressing us onward
Till the Shadowlands are done..."

-Jon Vowell

No comments: