Lifting the Veil

What brings you closest to God?

Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; 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 all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:15-18

In today''s reading from the second letter by Paul to the Church in Corinth, we are told that through the Spirit we are treated to a glimpse of the glory of God.

Paul tells us that the veil that kept us from knowing God in all His glory is lifted through Christ.  But what is important is why that matters.

Through the Spirit of the Lord we are transformed.

Our lives are changed by the knowledge of God.  We are no longer distant, requiring some intercessor to bring to us what God wants us to know.  We have a direct line.

Now some of us may hear this and have a problem with it.  While we enjoy a special relationship with God through Jesus, we don't want to exclude anyone else from having a relationship of their own.

Paul would tell us to invite those who don't believe to know Christ.  But we don't want to offend, so we leave others to their faith and we stay with ours.

So I wonder.  What is the benefit of being able to have a close relationship with God and be transformed by Him, if not to share it with others?

Sure, it helps us, but don't we want to bring the Good News of Christ to the world?

We are living in a time when our faith can make us a target, so the incentive is to keep our faith to ourselves, not to share with anyone, and not to offend anyone by even talking about our faith as anything special.  If we accept each other as we are, then all will remain peaceful, right?

I think the answer lies in the mirror Paul talks about.  When we see ourselves up close and true to our faith, what do we see?

Is the veil lifted, or is it firmly in place?

Maybe the first step is to get to know others and let them get to know us.  If they see God in us, then we are on our way to a better understanding of each other.  Of course, we need to be willing to see God in them as well.

That's when the veil truly gets lifted.

More to come...