Shimmering

Not too long ago I was introduced to an author who focused on Celtic spirituality by the name of Christine Valters Painter.  One of the ways she invited her readers to experience the world was through a window she called "shimmering."  She would write that we should take a walk in the creation and see what shimmers.  Or, she would suggest that we read the Scripture and see what words seem to shimmer as they are read.  At first this shimmering thing seemed like a mystery until I realized it was an invitation to pay attention to what was present in the present moment.     

As I was reading and reading again the fourth chapter of Romans, there was a verse that shimmered.  Another time I might have said it seemed to be like bold print in a sea of ordinary print, but today shimmer seems like a good word.  "For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace...."  (Romans 4:16)   This idea of God's promises resting on grace seemed like a new idea.  It shimmered on the page.  It whetted the appetite of my spirit for a larger portion of understanding.     

Sometimes the Word speaks to us in such an indirect way we have to sit with it before the truth within it begins to appear.  It is as if we know there is something in the Word and while it is invisible in the moment, it is waiting to appear.  The image of God's promises resting on grace is such a Word in the present moment.  There is more here than I am ready to articulate, but I know it will come if patience and faith is allowed to prevail.  Shimmering is a prelude to revelation.