Tag Archives: Bible

The Hill of Joy

Walking the Camino toward Santiago resembles ordinary life in many ways. We follow a path, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends or strangers. We experience good days and bad, stormy weather and brilliant sunshine, energy sapping heat and unexpected cold. The real difference is how we treat strangers along the way because it is almost a universal custom to acknowledge other pilgrims with a friendly “Buen Camino.” We connect through the common purpose of reaching Santiago.

My own journey had begun on a Sunday and now, five days later, I was approaching Santiago, the city where James, the Apostle of Jesus, rests. Around 10:30 in the morning, I arrived at an open high point called Monte Do Gozo (Hill of Joy). Unfortunately, an oversized metal monument had been placed on the spot where pilgrims could see for the first time the city they had traveled so long and hard to reach.

IMG_2327A small chapel has been built at a short distance from the monument. In contrast to the rusted block of metal, it is a simple structure. I looked inside, but it was empty and so after putting my pack down and grabbing my camera, I headed up toward the monument where I might steal a glance of Santiago just as centuries of fellow pilgrims before me had done.

I confess I felt little joy at that moment; the monument itself looked to me like a relic from World War ll. It was out of place and marred what should have been a spirit of lightness and joyful expectation.

I took a few pictures of far off Santiago and then walked back toward the chapel and my unattended pack. When I got there, I unexpectedly decided to detour back to the little chapel one last time before leaving. As I approached the open door, I heard a beautiful voice singing the words of John Newton’s Amazing Grace:

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

At first, I thought I was listening to a recording, but then I saw the back of a woman kneeling. From the slight movement of her head and shoulders, I could see she was the source of the words and music. She never looked up, but her voice filled the room with a sound of music that brought joy back to my own spirit. She sang with a soft passion that made me believe she was living the words she was singing:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fear relieved.

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares

I have already come,

‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far

And grace will lead me home.

Somehow the words of the song, the singer herself and the simplicity of the chapel combined to create a moment of genuine grace. The small chapel was filled with the fragrance of beauty, goodness and truth and the Hill of Joy became for me what it has been for thousands upon thousands of Christian pilgrims who now at last could feel that the purpose of their journey had finally come into full view:

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we’ve first begun.

The Language of God

When I read the Bible, I look for patterns of imagery and language that help point to the heart of what is being revealed. Paul tells us that the language of God is the language of the Holy Spirit and it must be read with that in mind in order to understand what the Bible is saying about God and about us.

The language of the Holy Spirit transcends time and place, for it speaks to the deepest longings of the human heart: “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” (1Corinthians 2:12-13)

The language of Scripture has beauty and truth embedded within its very core, and it is through the power of this language that we absorb the truth of the reality of God’s presence in the world and in our lives. The Bible opens with God saying, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Before there was light, the universe was void and without life and form.

And here is how John describes the second creation story, the birth of God’s one and only Son: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:4–5).

And here is Jesus during His three-year ministry: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). John echoes this in his first letter: “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

It is the light of God that flows out of the darkness and into and through the window of our mind and heart. When we open our minds to what this light really is, we see with a new heart and transformed mind a world flooded with the beauty, truth and mystery of God’s everlasting presence.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom

and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord”

Or who has been his counselor?

“Who has ever given to God,

That God should repay them?”

For from him and through him and for him

are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.

(Romans 11:33-36)

An Anatomy of Temptation

Albert Einstein (1)Choices. We face hundreds of them every day. Managing the process through learned behavior and subconscious habits, we fail to acknowledge the implications of our choices. When faced with a decision where we pause and earnestly consider each path before making a choice; that is the moment where we are most susceptible to temptation. Temptation implies that deciding on a certain course of action has the potential for disastrous outcomes. Being tempted means that you know the right way but are overpowered by a yearning to do something that strays from that path towards a dangerous place. Then there is the problem of not making a choice at all; deferring choice is still a decision. All decisions have consequences.

The anatomy of temptation and its consequences are perfectly described in the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They have been told not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but they chose to disregard the prohibition. What happened next?

The first response is self-consciousness and shame; Adam and Eve suddenly realize they are naked and so they cover their bodies. The second is fear; they hide when they hear God calling out to them in the garden. Then they lie when they tell God that they hid because they were naked. Finally, they begin to blame others for their actions. Adam’s response to God’s question is masterful: “The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it” (Genesis 3:12). And not to be outdone, Eve blames the serpent for her choice.

Solomon, the son of King David, is credited as being of a man of profound wisdom. But even Solomon knew that without God’s help, he would be as susceptible as any other man to making poor choices. When God tells Solomon to request anything of Him, Solomon answers wisely: “Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong” (1Kings 3:8-9).

As Solomon demonstrates, wisdom is the ability to discern between right and wrong. The outward and inward signs can often be ambiguous. We need discernment to choose the good path, resisting temptation to go the other way. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will have find rest for your souls’” (Jeremiah 6:16).

-The only question that remains is- What are we going to do about it-- (1)So here is a test. Take an inventory of your actions after you have permitted temptation to win. Do you feel like you want to hide? Are you experiencing shame and fear? Do you feel the need to lie to others or blame another for your actions? Maybe you knew the right thing to do from the beginning, but you were tempted to go the other way and you went. We have all experienced feelings of remorse and even despair when we have done what is wrong. The only question that remains is: What are we going to do about it?