We wake to find a mist has fallen on the minds of a generation struggling to see clearly.

We take up positions in fields of thought where outlines of a rational faith become blurred by inferences of intellectually dishonest rationales for what we believe.  We don’t always do well when seeking to discern normative truth regarding human existence and the mysteries of God with those who hold different views.

But we must persist in respectful dialogue – atheists, deists, theists – all kissed with the same humanity to find peace in a world swirling with conflicted dramas and traumas.

‘Spirit of God, assist us we pray.’

In this common human search for truth, Christians have come to insist that the mystery of faith in a self-revealed Creator God lifts the veil of blindness to our spiritual need and gives us glimpses of a coming kingdom ruled by transparent love with Jesus as its King.

Obscuring the mystery and majesty of God’s holy reign with a watered down gospel driven by winds of change which blow through conversations like short lived mists in order to try and blend incompatible views only creates another unclear response to genuine spiritual questions and ultimately has no power to heal a broken world.

The mystery that ‘Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again’ cannot be easily dismissed and so, we persist in its telling.  Ancient scrolls desist from holding back their sacred contents and authenticate an enduring historical basis for declaring that God’s Messiah has come in the flesh; that he is not a myth to be diffused in the light of some new day; that our need of his saving grace will not simply vanish in the vainglory of human pride.

When caught in shrouds of foggy resistance to the pursuit of sanctified faith and reason rooted in this ancient living word, a person is likely to miss certain spiritual insights regarding the deepest truths of who we are and how we are to find our way home to a holistic human experience in tune with God.  Mistaken direction and murky deception diffused throughout the world about us may cloud vision, but the Spirit is still breathing his whispered truth to dispel the vapour of human wisdom and vaguely held convictions with the light which has been shining in dark places since promises of redemption were first made.

God is great.  We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  We owe him our worship.

The serpent hissed his deadly lie in the misty garden of ages gone by.  Darkness fell and versions of his twisted message still echo in the recesses of hearts and minds, hang heavily in souls, take its toll on a lost humanity by continually diverting attention away from the merciful new beginnings which can be ours in Christ.

When pervasive human pride evaporates, the mist of mistaken explanations disappear.

On a certain trip through the Rockies, the massive rise of mountainous peaks at Banff, Alberta were completely hidden beneath a thick cloud.   As far as we could tell from what our eyes could see, we could have been in any town anywhere since the only things visible were our immediate surroundings at ground level.  There was no external hint that we had reached the gateway to so formidable a mountain range  except for signs which told us this was true  …  until a short ways down the highway when a blue patch of sky opened up and we were overwhelmed with the greatness which had been at our side all along.

The clouds will part on the day of his coming in glory and he will be seen by all.  We walk through low hanging clouds of current uncertainties on the solid footing of belief in the One who has already washed our feet in the basin of his love though we may not always see his face clearly or immediately be able to discern our way forward in the misty fray of competing worldviews.

Dear servant leader, living under a cloud of suspicion for declaring an unwavering faith in a God we cannot see but know is real, remember that all will one day be revealed.

As those who’ve fallen into grace when we stumbled in the greyness of our emptiness apart from him, we welcome the ongoing work of the Spirit until sight is made complete and all is done in love according to the love which flows from him.

We witness to the light of Christ in all our musings and discussions with the mystifying range of thought arising from the times and places where we live knowing that no matter how massive the intellects we meet or seemingly reasonable conclusions regarding the nature and meaning of life we hear, this will all be dwarfed and bow before the revelation of this awesome God we serve.

We wake to mists of honest questioning and rejoice in his demonstrable unseen presence to make our way clear.

‘You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.’ (Jeremiah 29:13)

‘Lord, when the sunrise brightness of transparent love and discipleship has been dimmed by the nighttime of unfocussed conviction, burn through the mist of our missed moments to give you our full attention and praise knowing you never change.    

We proclaim the mystery of Christ with living hope that your reign will one day clear away all foggy uncertainty with the knowledge of the LORD filling the whole earth.  Sustain your servants who daily live and lead in the mists of mass confusion both in the church and in the world to stand apart as towering landmarks pointing the way to you.  Amen.’