Herein we find the source of all good things, the fountainhead of true life and living. What do those who are dead know of living? They know nothing but the grave, and even we who have been made alive have only shadows and half-whispers, making our hearts ache for the substance and symphony (if we are still awake and hungry). Many in the Church have been lulled to sleep by the constant drone of the world and modern religious life, falling face down in their own private mud, having lost the sound of the sea in their ears. Meanwhile, the dead march on into their ditches, believing that they have found the whole when all they have is stained and strained particulars. It is by grace alone that the sound and presence of real life haunts them again, the grace of God that sends again the echoes of His goodness and beauty. We know nothing of real life until we are one with He who is alive, and how will they know about He who is alive unless someone tells them about Him?
Our mind's eye cannot yet comprehend the reality of His beauty; He has scattered it abroad like flaming pearls across the dark pit. Those who are blind cannot see them unless He sends them light. People talk of real things: real love, real joy, real peace, real beauty. What do they know of such things apart from God? We who are His see only dimly (I Cor. 13:12); those on the outside see only darkness, a darkness that serves only as a mirror for their own emptiness. Such a horrible state should shake our souls with compassion. There is a whole world of people out there missing true life, who cannot see and be a part of what they were meant to see and be a part of. Let us, therefore, lead them to the place of light and life (John 1:4).
-Jon Vowell (c) 2010
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