THE WORLD AS A THEATER OF GOD'S GLORY

When considering St. Irenaenus’ dictum “The glory of God is man fully alive,” the phrase “fully alive” stands out. Fully aliveness cannot be attained by knowing, but only by living--living life, my life. By living my life fully, I (and the world) get to witness the glory of God. One question that naturally arises is this. How then do we live?

Recently, our family watched the movie, Soul, by Pixar. I will try not to spoil it for you here. One thing I will share is the poignant scene of a “propeller leaf” that softly lands on the palm of the leading character. The scene stirs and reminds you that one’s life’s destination of passion and dream tends to be over exaggerated and that living moment to moment is the secret to living one’s life fully. It is a moment where through the falling leaf one can “see” the entire world and the entire world is made visible through one leaf. It is where the mystery of God’s glory is displayed and our ability to bask in the glory is actualized. Have you ever had a moment where the world seems to be in slow motion and you are caught in awe of God’s glory and mystery? It is hard to explain, but the fact that it is hard to explain does not mean it is not true or real.

Years ago, when our two older children were barely teenagers, my wife and I traveled to India to coach a few missionary units. We knew that this trip was a stretch for us and for our children, nonetheless, we felt led by God to go on this trip. Rightfully though, we were deeply worried about how our children would do without us even though we had caring friends and grandparents they were staying with. We were traveling literally halfway around the world and not just anywhere in the US! We landed in New Delhi and were traveling on a rented van on a highway to Jaipur which was a good 5-hour drive. About halfway to Jaipur, we found we were surrounded by butterflies. We didn’t know it then, but we must have been right in the middle of a massive butterfly migration path. We saw thousands upon thousands, all fluttering in one direction! It was as if flower petals were falling from the sky. My wife and I exchanged a look without words and smiled with our eyes widened for we knew that was God’s way of telling us that God would take care of our children. Butterflies mean God’s promise to us. There were other instances in our life that God reminded us of God’s promise through butterflies. This was no exception.

Living life fully does not always translate into deep spiritual or mysterious encounters, but in fact it is more about finding and discovering God in the mundaneness of everyday life. Living life in awareness and slow down mode is finding God in small things, routines, and seemingly insignificant activities. The idea of finding God in all things resonates with me. 

Additionally, let’s ruminate on John Calvin’s conception of “the world as a theater of God’s glory” which echoes St. Augustine centuries earlier. This is the world God loved and into which He sent His own Son. As we are all “in the world,” we are living witnesses of God’s glory. The world we are to reject by not being “of the world” is the sin and evil systems, illusions, and distortions of the true glory of God. What needs to be realized is the overarching truth that the world is much bigger than the Church. And that people who are in the world but not necessarily in the Church are also capable of seeing and discerning God’s glory. Both St. Irenaeus' and Calvin’s conception of God’s glory push beyond the comfortable and perceived boundaries of the Church. It keeps the Church humble and frees God to be much more expansive and bigger than the confines of the Church.

Butterfly represents and portrays a slice of God’s glory whether it means something to someone or not. The propeller leaf can be a leading character in God’s glory. The San Gabriel mountain behind our home in Pasadena represents the rugged beauty and magnificence of God’s glory. I remember being simply mesmerized looking at Monet’s multiple paintings of his water garden in Giverny, France in different times of the day and in different seasons. We need artists like Monet to wake us up from the slumber of not recognizing God’s glory in nature. The world as a theater of God’s glory is God’s created world: nature, all living creatures, people, and peoples (as in groups of people shaped by religions and cultures). These are what God created and declared they were good! The sea of humanity including every single one of us declares God’s glory. Or at least we are designed to. . . So we are right back to the dictum of St. Irenaeus and the question of how then do we live, each of us uniquely declaring God’s glory.

Wisdom in life is not about knowing what is right. Wisdom is about living what is right. We live into and out the unwavering conviction that God created us to declare God’s glory. Now, this is the life that is worth living!