Thursday, June 12, 2025
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Veils
Whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over the hearts of the children of Israel. But whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.
This is a veil of misunderstanding or incomprehension. This veil isn’t over my face, but inside my mind. It is not lace like a wedding veil, but a heavy hooded veil, which makes it impossible for me to see clearly.
Burdened by this veil, I grow tired and my misunderstanding, unchallenged, grows old as do I. The beauty of the Torah – the stories and teaching memorized by generations of Jewish children – gets lost when I know too many answers and ask too few questions.
Jesus will change this and remove the veil if I let him.
More than telling us exactly what to see in the Scriptures, Jesus taught us how to see, what to emphasize, and also what could be de-emphasized or ignored. Beyond fundamentalism or literalism, Jesus practiced a form of Jewish commentary called midrash, consistently using questions to keep spiritual meanings open, often reflecting on a text or returning people’s questions with more questions.
To use the text in a spiritual way—as Jesus did—is to allow it to convert you, to change you, to grow you up as you respond: What does this ask of me? How might this apply to my life, to my family, to my church, to my neighborhood, to my country, and even the world?
After three days Paul was released from the blindness that struck him upon Jesus’ appearing on the road to Damascus. To Paul and the Holy Spirit’s credit, this experience changed Paul forever.
The Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom and there is peace.
All of us, gazing with unveiled faces on the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
as from the Lord who is the Spirit.
As I get older I have time to do more walking, but then I fritter away the time and the walking goes undone. Jesus invites us to walk with him, and we will learn from him while we walk. Jesus surely never had a day with less than 10,000 steps.
Jesus is deeply connected to the earth on which he walks. He observes the forces of nature, learns from them, teaches about them, and reveals that the God of Creation is the same God who sent him to give good news to the poor, sight to the blind, and freedom to the prisoners. He walks from village to village, sometimes alone and sometimes with others; as he walks, he meets the poor, the beggars, the blind, the sick, the mourners, and those who have lost hope. He listens attentively to those with whom he walks, and he speaks to them with the authority of a true companion on the road. He remains very close to the ground. – Henri Nouwen
Blessed are the walkers. The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers. And blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.
Blessed are the walkers. Theirs is the kingdom of God.
God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
has shone in our hearts to bring to light
the knowledge of the glory of God
on the face of Jesus Christ.
Let the veils fall away.
(2 Corinthians 3, Psalm 85, John 13, Matthew 5)
(posted at davesandel.net)
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