Face to Face

It is a mystery! It may be an assumption on my part but there are a lot of people who enjoy a good mystery. You know, a kind of “who done it” where something has happened and it isn’t clear where or from whom this happening occurred. In a world where there seems to be non-stop bad news, bearing the weight of responsibility to find the guilty party can be overwhelming and frustrating, not to mention disheartening. 

But what if the mystery is centered around a happening that is absolutely wonderful? What if one day you and your community awaken to something that has been done for you that is so amazing and wonderful that it just left everyone speechless?  What if everyone tries to discover the responsible party but no one steps up to take the credit? So, there you are basking in the pleasure of this wonderful happening with seemingly no one to thank. 

This reflection has to do with awareness. Awareness is the key that unlocks mystery. Awareness can also be compared to an awakening. As I have journeyed along my path all of my lack of understanding, particularly pertaining to spiritual matters, is best described as a mystery. Let me hasten to say that awareness is not something I generated or contrived.

When I first made the discovery that my existence did not begin on planet earth I didn’t exactly know what to do with such awareness. When I discovered that my life is hidden with Christ in God, (Colossians 3:3) it was as though for a moment I got to peek behind the veil to view a reality so vast and overwhelming that all I could say was “wow!” When John penned his gospel he did not begin it as the other gospel writers began their’s. He wrote, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was “with” God and the Word was God.” I recognize the “Word” to be Jesus the Christ. The word “with” is the greek word pros meaning towards; face to face. In other words, to be face to face is to be intimately related. It is much like kissing. You can not kiss or be kissed by your lover simultaneously unless you are face to face. 

Then the discovery was made that yours and my beginning took place face to face with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we first became conscience of our spiritual reality we did so face to face with our Creator. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I knew you.” We exist because God loves and likes us. It is most interesting to me that while meditating on such mysteries the Holy Spirit all of a sudden brought a familiar verse of scripture into my remembrance. The simplicity of it, in light of this new awareness, is what was so overwhelming. I Corinthians 13:12 reads as follows, “For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Being “known” is what existence is all about. What is so wonderful about being known of God is that God knows us all by name.