There is a story about a drunk looking for his lost keys under a lamppost. A policeman stops to help him search. After futilely looking for several minutes, the officer asks the drunk if he is sure this is where he lost them. "No," replied the intoxicated seeker, "I lost them over there, but the light is better here."
I have used that story often as an illustration. What a foolish man, looking for his keys in a place where he knew he didn't lose them! Now I am not so sure. I am starting to look at him with new eyes. Maybe there is wisdom in his madness. Maybe this buffoon is really a sage in disguise.
I have been a spiritual seeker all my life. Even when I thought I had it all figured out, on a more subtle level I was still seeking for more. Seeking for a fuller understanding of Truth, a deeper experience of God.
What if the goal of my search has been here all the time? What if I am not looking for the keys (to understanding, wisdom, truth) but the light to see the keys? What if the light is the key? The light by which I have been searching is the Light that I have been searching for.
The apostle John said that Jesus is the "the true light that gives light to every man who comes into the world." Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
It is not that we are looking in the wrong place. We are looking for the wrong thing. The problem is that we are looking for something - some "thing." Whereas what we are really looking for is the light by which we see all things.
God, Truth, Reality, (whatever you want to call the End of our search) is not some thing or even some one to be found. He is the One who finds, the One who sees all things, the One by which we see.
It is hard to see the Light when we are looking for something. It is like the proverbial fish looking for water. "In Him we live and move and have our being." (I am quoting that Biblical poet a lot these days.)
The light that illumines us is the light by which we are illumined. By this Light we already see. It is just a matter of seeing that we see.
I have used that story often as an illustration. What a foolish man, looking for his keys in a place where he knew he didn't lose them! Now I am not so sure. I am starting to look at him with new eyes. Maybe there is wisdom in his madness. Maybe this buffoon is really a sage in disguise.
I have been a spiritual seeker all my life. Even when I thought I had it all figured out, on a more subtle level I was still seeking for more. Seeking for a fuller understanding of Truth, a deeper experience of God.
What if the goal of my search has been here all the time? What if I am not looking for the keys (to understanding, wisdom, truth) but the light to see the keys? What if the light is the key? The light by which I have been searching is the Light that I have been searching for.
The apostle John said that Jesus is the "the true light that gives light to every man who comes into the world." Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
It is not that we are looking in the wrong place. We are looking for the wrong thing. The problem is that we are looking for something - some "thing." Whereas what we are really looking for is the light by which we see all things.
God, Truth, Reality, (whatever you want to call the End of our search) is not some thing or even some one to be found. He is the One who finds, the One who sees all things, the One by which we see.
It is hard to see the Light when we are looking for something. It is like the proverbial fish looking for water. "In Him we live and move and have our being." (I am quoting that Biblical poet a lot these days.)
The light that illumines us is the light by which we are illumined. By this Light we already see. It is just a matter of seeing that we see.
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Image is "Drunken Master" by CiTy.
Image is "Drunken Master" by CiTy.
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1 comment:
Wow. Very interesting thought.
Another thing about God: He finds us.
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