That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”
-- William Wordsworth
In his famous poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, Wordsworth exemplifies the romantic ideal by idolizing his imagination. The flashes that illuminate his inward eye brighten the drab and mediocre nature of reality. Vacant and pensive moods are familiar territory for me, are they for you? In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul speaks violence against the vacuous life.
“…our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains un-lifted, because only through Christ it is taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed! In the book of Exodus Moses’ face shone with the glory of God – the shining was so great that the people of Israel couldn’t stand it. This same glory that apprehended Moses is ours. Only through Christ it is taken away. When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. We – those who are bold, the beneficiaries of the scandal of the cross – we behold the glory of the Lord. And then our transformation continues. The Jesus that we see high and lifted up transforms us into himself, by himself, for himself, from one degree of glory to another. When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed!
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant – a covenant of righteousness, purpose, identity, sacrifice, and glory. Thanks be to God, for the beautiful things are not in our imagination. Thanks be to God, for the Beauty has ravished our hearts, and his call beckons with more power than daffodils.
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