This year I have been journeying with Paul, Timothy and Jesus through Colossians. I’m still in chapter one! Honestly, I can’t help it. I keep stumbling over such richness that I get mired in it and cannot move on. There is a lusciousness about it… a strange word to use when reading Scripture, I realise.
Monthly Musings: Holy Secrets
Most recently I have been lingering in Colossians 1:15-20, committing to memory the NLT’s version of that mesmerizing, vivid, powerfully descriptive poem-like hymn about Christ, embedded with mystery after mystery, holy secrets layered one upon the other.
Everything was created through him and for him, verse 16 reads.
… through him … for him. I don’t doubt the truth of it. I’m just awed by the reality of it.
…he holds all creation together, verse 17 tells us. I imagine big, powerful hands holding gently yet firmly. Not grasping or clinging. That intrinsic thread without which all things would fall apart.
Verse 19 goes on to say, For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ…
… in all his fullness …
What? How? My brain convulses. Where does the reality of the Trinity fit into this statement? It’s too much, too beautiful, too beyond my understanding, a holy secret waiting to be fully unveiled. And yet a smile of worship appears, a bubble of joy bursts forth.
With this sitting in the background, my team met on a recent Monday morning for our weekly early morning prayer times. We take turns leading these sessions, mostly focusing on our areas of responsibilities and praying into that space.
But last Monday we did something different. We spent some time pondering three questions, the final of which was “Is there anything about God that … makes [you] uncomfortable?”1
We chatted and shared, coming up with a variety of responses (which I’m paraphrasing).
His generosity overwhelms me and makes me feel uncomfortable at times. His extravagance can be unsettling.
How he presses into those tender parts of my life and lovingly forces me to continue the process of healing. Ouch!
The breadth and depth and brightness of his glory. The shine and glare of it is immense, even unbearable at times. As Annie Dillard writes about an eclipse, “One turns at last even from glory itself with a sign of relief.”2 His glory can be so uncomfortable that at times we want to get away.
And yet it draws us, this unadulterated presence, this purity, this worthiness.
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, Col. 1:15 starts.
Oh yes. Yes he is. The most holy of secrets revealed in skin and bones and carpenter hands, moving into the neighbourhood of earth to live out an unexpected, other way of doing things. To die well before his time, or … actually … right on time. The invisible, translated into the visible, for us.
If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it with a friend. Or LIKE it to remind me that you are really out there! 😀
Book News
Shaped by the Spirit is at the printer, I’m talking with Australia’s major bookstore about having the book available at some upcoming speaking events, and someone has asked to review it. It really does feel like I’m watching someone else’s movie! May 16th is now not very far away. 🎉
Here is another kind endorsement…
This is a beautifully written book! It is packed with much-needed, gentle wisdom for all of us who long to be more profoundly shaped by the Spirit. I found myself lingering over each page, feeling alternately encouraged and quietly convicted – at a time when I had been experiencing my own time of spiritual weariness. It was exactly what I needed, perhaps, in no small part, due to Kate’s close walk with Jesus, her love of the word, and her missional heart. May the Lord use this book for all his wonderful, redemptive purposes in the world. - Naomi Reed Christian Writer and Speaker Author of My Seventh Monsoon, Heading Home, Finding Faith and A Time to Hope https//naomireed.info
Phew! This book journey has been a strange and vulnerable one. I so appreciate learning from others authors, such as
in her Substack Making The Understory a Bestseller (which looks like it will be an interesting read!). She explains that …I appreciate that reminder. So… a HUGE thank you to those of you who have preordered. For those who have done it through Koorong, you tapped into their lower price. Eek! It has just risen, I’m afraid. For others, feel free to order below.
Australia - Word (now the cheapest in Aust.), Koorong or Amazon.com.au UK - SPCK USA - Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Cokesbury or Walmart
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This question is found at the end of chapter 12 in the following: Alicia Britt Chole, The Sacred Slow: A Holy Departure from Fast Faith (Thomas Nelson, 2017), 59. I’m using it for my Lenton reading. It’s so good!
Annie Dillard, The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old and New (Canongate Books, 2016), 41.