Marks of Glory

I (Jim) was reading an excerpt of Thomas R. Kelly's "A Testament of Devotion" last night and ran across this quote:

"Marks of glory are upon all things and the marks are cruciform and blood-stained.  And one sighs, like the convinced Thomas, 'My Lord and my God.'  Dare one lift one's eyes and look? Nay, whither can one look and not see Him?  For field and stream and teeming streets are full of Him.  Yet as Moses knew, no man can look on God and live - live as his old self.  Death comes, blessed death, death of one's alienating will.  And one knows what Paul meant when he wrote, 'The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.' (Gal. 2:20)"

I've lately felt reminders to enter in or re-enter that new life or at least to seek out 'my Lord and my God' everywhere.  This season, I've felt called to look on His face.  Field and stream are full of Him but so are the teeming streets, the hungry masses seeking life.  I will seek Him there.  So often my searching is crowded into cursory glances for His grace as I rush to the next task or engagement; my vision is dimmed by the bright glare of Facebook statuses, my hearing dulled by the incessant noise of my own prideful thoughts, my judgement clouded by fantasies of my intellect.

"It is the drama of the lost sheep wandering in the wilderness, restless and lonely, feebly searching, while over the hills comes the wiser Shepherd.  For His is a shepherd's heart, and He is restless until He holds His sheep in His arms."