We Are Becomming

 

As the sun was beginning to rise, there was just enough light to begin to bring this stained glass window to life. Against the darkness of the room, the soft glow of color began to shine, and the shapes and patterns contained within began to take shape. There was a special beauty to this beginning. It seemed as if this could be the first day in the life of the window. It seemed as if it could be coming into focus for the first time. It felt as if the morning was a kind of creation moment.

How fitting for this earliest day of a new year. Each day will add a little more light to the year, and both the year and our lives will come a bit more into focus. The year doesn’t spring to life all at once. It develops and reveals itself slowly over a 365 day sunrise. Likewise, we are becoming more fully who we are over time, each day bringing us more into focus.

As I grew up, I had the idea that God “brought us along” through the days and years of our lives. We weren’t already who we would eventually be, but we could be who we were supposed to be for a particular moment or season in our life. Ten year old Barry could be who God wanted him to be, which was different from who forty year old Barry would need to be. But I could get there over those thirty years, if I committed myself to a life of following Jesus. Like the sunrise and the window, life would take shape over time.

We read in 2 Peter, “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts…” I like the image of paying attention as the day dawns and the star rises. Life doesn’t happen all at once. We are becoming. And we are becoming within the circle of God’s grace and love. Happy New Year.

Peace.