“No greetings! It feels like
that kind of day,”
I thought. I’d gotten up early, it was fully dark; tasks were on my mind. My computer screen was all that gave light to the house. I read about Chile, Haiti, economy, our local schools. My Internet access is through Boreal, and on the home page there is a spot to post “greetings.” It says, “Wish someone a happy day! Click here to add a greeting.” But that morning the greetings merely stated, “There are no greetings today.”
My day had a dullness to it; “no greetings” seemed a good description.
Looking up from my computer, my eyes noticed two books. Seeking respite from the news, the dark, and the mood, I reached over, took both in hand, and turned on a lamp.
Opening Professors Who
Believe,
my eyes landed on, “Christianity proclaims that there is a universal and undeniable need to know the Creator, and that through Jesus Christ…this is possible.”
A reminder, for me: my “dull-no-greetings-day” was still one in which I could recognize the universal and undeniable need to know the Creator. The author, Mathematics Professor James Keener, writes:
“My faith begins with a belief in the existence of God, the designer, creator and sustainer of the universe, the ultimate cause of all effects, the reason behind the reason, the giver of laws both physical and moral, the value behind values, the definer of beauty, the source of all purpose…I find it impossible to believe that there is no Creator. In all my experience, in all of science, I have never heard of an effect that had no cause. I have never seen a design that had no designer, a law that had no lawgiver, an order that had not been ordered, information that had no informer.”
Our Creator has established within us the universal and undeniable need to know…through Jesus Christ this is possible. “Greetings
from God,”
I heard.
The second book? The Gospel of Luke. At Trinity Lutheran many people have been reading it during Lent —“31 pages, easy to read in six weeks, and filled with good stories.” My bookmark guided me to where I’d left off. “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness.”
“
Greetings again,” I heard. Thenthis came my way:
“There were shepherds in the field, keeping watch by night. An angel of the Lord came to them and said, “Do not be afraid, for I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day a Savior, who is the Christ, the Lord.”
The news and worries of our lives, from school budgets to earthquakes, are real. We don’t need to read a newspaper or computer screen to know about them—but they don’t tell us how we are greeted in life.
God greets us, with sunrise, with sunset, with light from on high, with life itself. God greets us, within our caring about and for others (we are created in God’s image!), within our receiving a hello from a stranger, within our ability to ask questions and seek answers.
There are days that seem to be the no-greetings-kind; but in each and every day, whether we notice or not, God is greeting us and all creation. “Listen carefully to me…incline your ear, and come to me” (Isaiah 55). Thedesigner, creator, and sustainer of all that is and that will be greets you, in this very day!
“Professors Who Believe, the Spiritual
Journey of Christian Faculty”, edited by
Paul M. Anderson, Intervarsity Press, 1998.
Each month a member of the
Cook County Ministerium
will offer Spiritual Reflections.
For March, our contributor
is Pastor Kris Garey, Trinity
Lutheran, Hovland.
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