We awaken at different times. In this denomination, the “Second Coming” we hold to be deeply personal – a “Second Coming” that is not a physical return of Christ but in a rebirth of God into our lives, a rebirth where we open our eyes for a second time.
Our lives desperately need that second opening. We are so bloody self obsessed! One friend told a rather pointed joke. ”So this guy demands of God proof of God’s existence. God responded somewhat perplexed, ‘I thought creation was enough.’” I certainly have been in that place and find myself in that place still, a place where all the beauty around me lies unseen as I obsessively stare into the mirror, caught in the narcissistic hell of painting my own self portrait again and again.
Thankfully, that particular approach to life inevitably fails. I know as a Pastor, that is why I am far more relieved when someone calls in tears than in almost any other emotion. I know when they “break” and gaze up and beyond the canvas of their thoughts and feelings they will see – and experience – a grace and beauty beyond words. Then we see what is important and we realize we have just enough time to accomplish it.