Good morning! Ma here 💛
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
I think about these verses all the time. Man do I long to see the Father face to face! It is a beautiful promise to claim: one day, you and I will know fully even as we have been fully known 💛
Until then, we see him in a mirror dimly. Easily forgetting his face the moment we turn our heads away.
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like little children
We comprehend the beauty of the Father much like a child drawing a portrait of their parents. They’ve grasped the building blocks of what makes a person a person (or in our case: God, God) but there is so much they have yet to see, so much their young hearts have yet to understand!
I would like to think that I comprehend more of God than this child comprehends of their parents. I flatter myself! It seems much more true to say that I don’t even see this much. God is way more vast, deep, and beautiful than I will ever be able to grasp on this side of heaven!
He is the Creator. You and I are the created.
As such, we can neither contain nor comprehend him in our limited minds! We seek his face, yes, but we really are like little children attempting to draw our dad with rainbow crayons and wonky scribbles.
But just as children mature into adulthood, so should we mature in our knowledge and understanding of God. I believe that one way we mature is by seeing God rightly. Which begs the question:
how do we see God?
Before we can really address how we see God, we first need to learn how to see. The obvious answer is that we see with our eyes. You might argue that you don’t have to learn that. But I have been using my eyes for 25 years, and I would argue that I know how to look, but I am unpracticed in the art of seeing.
I found this concept explained beautifully here:
“To look means to gaze upon something with your eyes and acknowledge its presence. But to see requires time, patience, open mindedness and, sometimes even effort. In order to see, not only do I have to look at the object, but I also have to pay attention to it until a new understanding arises.”
Seeing is not only noticing that something is present, but understanding it, attending to it, and looking past the obvious to enjoy its meaning and nuances. This takes time, patience and attention to detail. To survive, one looks. To flourish one endeavors to see.
If we as human beings were to digest every visual stimulus in our field of vision, we would be exhausted and overwhelmed. And even if we wanted to really take in our environment, it would take time, energy, and focus. So we prioritize. We glaze over everything and pay attention to the things that serve our needs. Yet for all our effort to prioritize what we take in, we can’t remember much.
I looked at my face in the mirror this morning, but I can’t clearly remember what I look like. I could relay about as much information as a child with a crayon. We look, but we do not see.
And I believe that “the art of seeing has to be learned” (Marguerite Duras).
the cheap way out of seeing
When I was in high school, I was taught a method to draw an eye. I memorized this step-by-step process and loved the boundaries it created for my drawings to thrive within. I didn’t have to see a person’s eye to draw one (that seemed way too hard and scary). Instead, I could just live inside the boundaries of someone else’s discovery, always achieving a pleasant (if rather lifeless) result.
In college, that method didn’t fly.
There were no more easy how-to’s to follow. I was expected to draw from life. To look at a human body (not from a photo or screen, but in real life) and translate it onto the page.
I was expected to see.
And oh how my untrained eyes struggled!
The first thing my professor taught us was how to trust our eyes to make marks. Looking was not enough. We needed to know how to see. Our eyes soaked in form, shape, light, and shadow. And our hands trusted what we saw for every mark we made.
This was the beginning of seeing for me. My prior methods of drawing became so shallow and bland, I never looked back.
As I learned to see, my eyes began to gather context, story, beauty, personality, movement, light, and a sense of reality like I had never witnessed before. Where I had once relied on a method, I now relied on my eyes.
When I relied on a method:
my drawings were flat and lifeless. I could never translate a real and dimensional person to the page because I was drawing from methods, not life.
Peep my high school math homework and a face from my imagination. This was created before I learned the art of seeing.
When I learned to rely on seeing:
my drawings began to reflect the distinct, lively, and complex people in front of me. They felt more human and dimensional. I was portraying real people, not imaginary ones.
A drawing of a real, living, breathing and beautiful person! Though my drawing skills could not do her justice, she helped me learn to see.
looking at God vs. seeing God
It is not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.
Henry David Thoreau
Looking at God, scanning his word with eyes that don’t see, that don’t seek to understand, that aren’t curious and open, will leave your faith hungry. You will find yourself looking at a flat and lifeless God, an incomplete and shallow sliver of who he really is!
But seeing God (enjoying his presence, soaking in the beauty of his face, dwelling in a nuance of his character, claiming a promise from the scriptures, gaining deep understanding by his Spirit, worshiping with a present heart) will fill you up! The reward of seeing more of his face is more enjoyment of him! More intimacy with him as Father, friend, and brother.
Seeing doesn’t happen at a distance. It happens by coming close, drawing near, and seeking out God’s face!
prompt
Today is simply an invitation to partner with the prayer of David in Psalm 27:
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me.
I think David is talking about more than just longing to see God face to face. He is longing to understand and comprehend God’s beauty, presence, character, and will! The prayer of his heart is not to look at God from a distance, but to come close and see him!
I encourage you to ask God to show you a new side of his face today. It could be one aspect of his character, scripture that reveals his heart, or an experience you had where he wanted to show you more of himself. Take some time to pray:
“Your face, Lord, do I seek. Hide not your face from me. What do you want me to show me about yourself today? Help me to see.”
Give the Father your attention, your presence, and your time. Journal what he reveals.
I would love to hear from you, what is God showing you about himself today?
With much love,
ma
In seeing His face, I feel and see true love: not an earned love but a given one. This reality hit me on a walk as I relapsed into thinking I could merit more love from God.
I love each and every post! This is such life-giving reading each week! Keep seeing the threads God is starting to tie together for you.
You are very inspiring, Mary Anne. Thank you for your weekly letter.