Last weekend I had the joy of celebrating my daughter’s birthday with her many friends and family. Sarah chose to celebrate her birthday at a friend’s farm in the Yarra Valley. I was chatting with one of Sarah’s long-time friends, who reflected on how special her friendship with Sarah had had been.
“I love Sarah,” she said. “She has always had such a pure and good heart. She has the incredible capacity to just see the best in people no matter what.”
I must admit, as a Dad, I was really chuffed to hear this being said about my girl. The words ‘she has a pure heart’ rang in my mind for the next few days.
Around the same time, I came across the following passage from the Old Testament book of Psalms. “Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart!” Psalm 24:3-4. (NIV)
Reading this verse prompted a memory. As a younger person, who was still quite new to Christianity, I remember one day thinking on Jesus’ words, “The pure in heart will see God,” and having no sense of what those words meant.
Over time I had it explained to me that this was a reference for the future. When I get to Heaven, I’ll get to see God! As my biblical understanding grew, I was able to realise that Jesus had more in mind than only seeing God in Heaven. Jesus also meant that we could see God in the right here and now!
Seeing God does not necessarily mean we literally see Him but rather have a God consciousness – seeing Him with eyes of faith and seeing Him in everything He has created. Another way of putting it is that not seeing God is to be in the same position as Schopenhauer, a philosopher and apostle of pessimism who concluded there was no key in his hand to unlock the meaning of life!
Late one night a police officer found Schopenhauer lying on a park bench. The police officer, thinking he was a homeless man asked, “Who are you?” Schopenhauer replied, “I wish I knew!” How sad!
We really don’t know who we are until we know whose we are. Those who do not know God will find it hard to see any purpose in life. For such people, sadly, life has few threads of meaning running through it and remains a hollow mystery.
Followers of Jesus on the other hand, can see God in a way that no one else can! Through their God consciousness, they see Him in nature; in the events of history; in their daily experiences; in their special friendship they have and even in the pages of the Bible. Seeing God is being aware of Him, sensing His acceptance, comprehending what it means to be forgiven and made anew.
Raymond Cramer, a psychologist who is also a follower of Jesus says, “To be pure in the heart, seeing God, is like viewing a stained-glass window from the inside rather than the outside. Followers of Jesus can see life in all its colour, splendour and majesty! What a blessing it is to have this sight because of a pure heart.
The Staff and I have the privilege of helping our students to see life like a stained-glass window from the inside. To enable them to learn how to see God in the here and now by helping them to understand what it means to have a pure heart. As they know this joy in their life, they can be a people that bless others to also see and know God.
Blessings,
Ross Grace
Executive Principal.