Wings of the Dawn

He sat on the ground with his legs crossed and downward eyes. When I passed, he lifted his head and noticed me. His warm eyes drew me in with a silent kindness. When he slowly rose to his feet, his eyes were still fixed on me with gentle persistence.

I stood still, able only to focus on Him.

Then, as he stood a distance away, I sensed something I had never before experienced. His gentle gaze turned to knowing. His piercing eyes suddenly knew everything about me. My being felt unable to keep anything hidden. I felt exposed and embarrassed. Who I was and what made me, all the things I had done and had failed to do, he knew it all. My soul felt fragile and transparent, like a glass container. My heart filled with fear and dread.

I wanted to hide, look away, but there was no escaping his eyes. He was drawing me in. Wordlessly he invited me to come near, desiring my presence.

Reluctantly, I drew closer. I was not able to withstand his unspoken request. But all of a sudden the uneasiness of my exposure disappeared. Instead, a deep sensation of an unfamiliar love poured over me, a kinder, deeper, and more fulfilling love than I had ever known before. It was a love made of many loves, a lover’s love, a friend’s love, a father’s love, and so much more. This love slowly soaked into the crevices of my whole person. I closed my eyes and wanted to stay here, forever with him. It was as if I was made for this.

I didn’t want to open my eyes. Slowly, the surroundings of my room came into focus. Nothing of me wanted to wake up from this. All of me waned to go back. I tried to hang on to the love in my heart – and his eyes. But like a pail of water poured into the sand on a beach, so dissipated that once unfamiliar love into the ground of the dream. And like tiny droplets of water clinging to the inside of the pail, the memory of this love tries to cling to my heart.

“God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
You gave Your Son,
so that we would not have to come and stand before You exposed.
We long for love to be real in us.
In Your mercy show us glimpses of this love today.
LORD, we need You to pour love into our hearts so we can love others.
All love pours from Your heart into ours.
Fill us today with kindness, compassion,
gentleness, goodness, and mercy. 
Renew our minds today
and make our love to look more like Christ’s each day,
Who loved You first and then loved others.” 

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
1 Corinthians 2:9

Time is a measure of joy and of pain,
An allotment for seasons, for sun and rain.
Beginning and end is the breadth of time’s span –
Time on earth has a limit for man.

The Creator, all-wise and knowing all things,
Made time for us here to bring us to Him.
He set our clocks to run their course;
Nothing can change the Hand and its force.

No one knows when the time will be spent,
When this life and the world will come to their end.
Lord, teach me today that tomorrow can wait,
And that tears over yesterday might be to late.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)
~
(Pictures and poetry, Heidi Viars, 2017)

Looking at the future can be scary. But looking at the past can be even more scary.
This video that my son made as a capstone for his degree in Media Business produces a bit of fear in me, as I stare at the past. I hope though that God will use it to encourage some to look to the Light of this Season, the real reason for our Hope, Jesus Christ.

To Corey,
“Thank you, Son, for being the man that you are. I pray that God would use you mightily and make you a person who draws back the curtain of life, so people can see God’s amazing love for mankind. You did good with this video … despite what you had to work with :-)”

I look around and clearly see
That flawlessness you need from me.
Perfection is what makes you tick.
But can’t you see the Devil’s trick?

I look around and what I know
That I’m not welcome. I must go.
In my blemishes and flaws,
It does appear I am at fault.

I look around and do perceive
I have no place. I better leave.
Don’t be surprised though when I’m gone …
You still have self to look upon.

For when you look deep in your heart,
You’ll see that God made me a part
Of His plan and of His cure.
To point to Christ, the One who’s pure.

Don’t so quickly try to end
Or fix the broken – try to mend
What is here to point to God.
For it is YOU who’s really flawed.
~

Thanks to David Robertson for pointing to a powerful documentary and his excellent commentary at

A World Without God -6 statements in Sally Phillips’ BBC doc that show us where we’re heading