But Sheri had added something new. Using a fluorescent yellow marker, she had drawn heavy lines, like beams of light, spilling out of the fissure and flowing to the edge of the paper. Pointing to the crack, she said, 'That's where God shines through.'
Once again I was reminded that it is through our suffering, our trials, and our wounds that God's glory is often revealed. The caption under Sheri's picture could have read, 2 Corinthians 4:
For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. (vv 6-9)"
"And as for Sheri, the broken pieces of our life--the fractures, fissures, and jagged edges--can become the very locales where God's glory spills through in a torrent of light, hope and healing. Out of our own personal darkness, God's penetrating light can touch those who still grope in the shadows.
Just ask one of the regulars on the rape crisis hotline." --The Wounded Woman, Dr. Steve Stephens and Pam Vredevelt
Sheri is a young rape victim whose story is told in this book. What an amazing depiction of how His light shines bright in our woundedness and pain and times of crisis, showing the way for those desperate in darknesss and hiding in the shadows.
And saying the same thing, this was sent out in Jim's blog yesterday...
"For the true minister of his time is called to recognize, clarify, and recontextualize the sufferings of his time, however unconscious and vague among the many, to bring those sufferings into fine focus in his own heart, and to make that distilled refinement of understanding the starting point of his message and service work. Whether he tries to enter into a dislocated world, relate to a convulsive generation, connect with a couple in bitter crisis, or speak to a dying man, his service will not be perceived as authentic unless it comes from a heart wounded deeply by the exact and very personal (however ubiquitous) suffering about which he speaks, and it's not about his clearing or mastering or solving of it, but his complete and utter surrender to it as an indelible mark of his humanity and the only way of liberation and freedom." -- Henri Nouwen, in The Wounded Healer
Today is the memorial for one amazing young man, Aaron Hobart, a beautiful, wounded healer, who's life was extinguished so young, who in an unimaginable tragedy, left his indelible mark and pointed to the Way out of the darkness and shadows to Jesus' inextinguishable Light. I was again moved to tears when I heard what Aaron's precious family shared this week at Love Machine. They asked 'please remember to pray for the police officer and his family also, every time you pray for us'. This is a profound example of Jesus' love and the magnitude and latitude of lives touched will be infinite.
Jesus' thank You as You hold Aaron, he is with You face to face, You are holding his family closely. Thank you that in Your infinite great Love for all of us, You will work this out for good and for Your glory.
I captured the last bit of this unbelievably beautiful sunset with my cell phone on Wednesday, February 18 as Ken, Susan and I were were driving to the hospital to be with the Hobarts. My only thought as it captured my attention, was it was Aaron's light and God painted the sky with it as he was leaving. I hope that someone else had captured more of the amazing gold and crimson color that filled the sky prior to this shot, because it literally diminished in a matter of a few minutes. I think it would be a blessing to Aaron's family.
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