We see partially now what we one day will see fully. Or, put another way by St. Paul in his letter to friends in Corinth, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now we know in part; then we shall know fully, even as we are fully known” (1 Cor. 13v12).
Love comes in waves. It comes in fractured pieces and particles. Love rarely comes all at once to reveal itself fully. Not because it is unable or incapable in and of itself… it’s that we, as the receivers, are not willing and ready to receive even if we think we are. We have not been fully trained to receive vast amounts of love in such cosmic proportions. So, God gives us hints. We are led along the way by many pieces that are meant to lead us to the Whole. Paul, in his letter to Corinthian friends, is not speaking of looking into a crystal ball or hidden knowledge of the mind that we are unable to grasp this side of life. He is speaking of Love (Big “L” Cosmos, Divine Pure Love).
Paul goes on to mention that we see a reflection… a part of the bigger picture. John’s gospel mentions something similar in reference to Isaiah when he writes in chapter 12 verse 41, “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him”. Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory? I’d never caught that little part when reading John 12 before. I believe Isaiah saw a part of the bigger Picture without even recognizing it. Isaiah didn’t even know who Jesus was but he saw a glimpse of the Cosmic Christ – the one who holds all things together. Isaiah caught a glimpse– like a sunbeam bursting through the trees on the walking path at twilight. We have this natural tendency to believe that the prophets and other spiritual heavyweights saw, all-at-once, the glory and beauty of Reality. That their eyes were opened all at once. This happens from time to time, to be certain. But the more profound and common and beautiful experiences with the Divine happen like an unfolding story that takes its time. Every moment and every piece of life, for all that it entails with the fractured areas and lighthearted bits, can and should contribute to the bigger Picture of us seeing the Mystery for what it is. “Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory”. What did that look like? What did that feel like? How did that happen? I’m convinced that it happened the way all Divine-infused moments happen. God revealed the glory of Jesus through the ordinary the way God always does – through a bush, a rock spilling water, bread from heaven, release of captives held in slavery, a rainbow to signify promise, a pillar of fire in the night sky, and through ordinary men and women. The miracle of these stories is not their peculiar and random occurrence. These things happen all the time in the story of God and humanity. What is fascinating is that they keep happening. They keep pulling people forward. They keep insisting to generation after generation that God is with us and for us and ahead of us.
Moment. Moment. Moment.
Paul is explaining the great Reality of the Mystery of God. That rather than revealing all at once, one time, for one people the Reality of who God is, God rather would reveal moment by moment to each generation the “glory of Jesus” in particular ways.
This leads us now to reflect.
We can be anxious and hurried, ready to be transformed in a moment and ready to see a flash or spectacle of the Divine working in our lives. Or, we can see all moments as moments that lead us forward to Love. If we rest in the reality that God is pulling us forward with small “glory-of-Jesus” moments. Wherever we find Love, be it a baseball game or a new record or a busy work day or the neighbor that insists on telling you every detail of their day, would we know we are seeing in part. We can glimpse, even when we don’t know.
We don’t see the whole picture but the Whole Picture sees us. This is the meaning of the last part of verse 12. We are fully known. We will one day know (Love) as we are fully known and embraced and guided by this Love.
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