Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
John 3: 7 - 21 Crouching down in an overnight igluvigaq (a traditional Inuit snow house) you have no indication of the force or even the presence of the wind outside. Tightly packed snow blocks muffle sounds and the dome shape gives no resistance, and therefore no voice, to even the strongest winds that slip silently by on their journey unhindered across the arctic ice or tundra. Only when you exit an iglu and stand upright do you feel the wind and hear it whistle around you. Sometimes arctic winds are so strong that they roar around your stature and you can even lean on them! So it is with the mercy of God. If I do not exit my “igloo” of darkness insulated as it is by the deceits of the world, the flesh and the devil, I can easily deny that the Spirit of God exists because I don’t ‘hear’ the mercy of God, or feel its power. But as I “do what is true”(v.21), that is live into my nature as homo sapiens, erectus – a human being standing upright , in this case spiritually, - I exit my frozen cocoon and stand upright into the light and love of God. That is when I become aware of the wind of the Spirit of God’s mercy whistling around and through me as a believer in Christ Jesus, now softly, then forcefully, in harmony with the kingdom of God. This is one image of what it looks like to “not perish but to have eternal life” (v.16). Will I continue to crouch down in the darkness of unbelief, with the mercy of God muffled by works of darkness, or will I stand up in the light of day and hear and feel the wind of the spirit (v.8), the mercy of God, that sometimes caresses my cheek and at other times bids me lean into its power? Risen Christ, help me believe and so stand up in your Spirit of truth. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:3,4) Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as the Spirit approaches. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen and console. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem A Blessed, Holy and Happy Easter season to you and your family. May you evermore align your heart with the will of God, as Jesus did! Allelulia! Even when all looked like death, it was really Life! Alleluia! Alleluia! Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
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AuthorBeverly Illauq lives in Kemptville, Ontario, where she greets each morning by seeking the Gospel Mystery of the Day - the Word of the Lord for direct and practical application to the specific challenges & joys of the day. Archives
March 2024
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