Transformed by Insight

"The golden rule for your life and mine is this concentrated keeping of the life open towards God" -- Oswald.

The idea that most intrigued me in today's reading was how Oswald tied transparency and transformation. Consider the phrases "unveiled frankness before God" and "this concentrated keeping of the life open towards God." I usually think of the necessary openness as being one way: letting the light of his presence shine into my life, beholding him through Scripture, through creation, through music and art, so that I am filled with awe at his majesty. Oswald's words, however, have made me wonder: If I have covered my heart with a veil and am hiding in shame the truth of me -- my fears, desires, worries, jealousies, pettiness, disappointments, anger -- can the light really penetrate?

Paul wrote that the New Covenant made the veil no longer necessary: "Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed in his likeness with every-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" 2 Corinthians 3:15-18.

It is a frightful thing to stand naked before a mirror, let alone God, but the more I try to cover up and hide, the less able I am to reflect his glory.

Barbara