In the beginning was the Word…the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory…

(John 1:1, 14)

who was from the beginning, whom we have heard, whom we have seen with our eyes, whom we have looked at and our hands have touched – Him we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

(1 John 1:1)

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Then Jesus told him, " Because you have seen me

, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

(John 20:29(

if a woman has long hair, it is her glory; For long hair is given to her as a covering.

(1 Corinthians 11:15)

Carefully turning the tractor from the country road into a wheat field, I guided the “honey wagon” across the drainage ditch at Springer’s Corner. Low clouds drizzled mist into my eyes, soaking the grass and surrounding trees. But from the West, a setting sun blazed its rays across the field, projecting onto a windbreak of chartreuse-green trees. Suspended in the air above the field a rainbow’s brilliant colors dazzled. It seemed that I could touch it. If I could have, I sensed it might have more than color and sight; it might have taste, texture and scent as well. A glorious sight, one remembered across a lifetime of other sights.

To our ears, the words of 1 Corinthians sound strange. “If a woman has long hair it is her glory”. Many are the men who seek to impose on their wives this injunction. Many are the women who obey as a sign of their submission to their husband and God. For years, I could not understand how hair length contributed to godliness. Then I read a National Geographic article about the city of Corinth. Corinth abounded in temples. Many of these temples were served by women who dedicated themselves to the service of their goddess by prostituting themselves. Their badge of dedication was short hair.

Much like the long-haired men of the late sixties and early seventies, these women clearly stated their role in society, their purpose, their beliefs by their hair length.

Paul is saying, “women, don’t cut your hair-it is what reveals who you are; it is your protection when you walk in the streets. If you have short hair, you will be seen as a temple prostitute; fair game for any man who accosts you. Your long hair is an indication that you are not available; your protection against these men.” A woman’s hair was her glory-the indication of who she was in society; an indication of her purpose, her dedication, her glory; her character.

The Word was made flesh…and we beheld His glory. We saw and heard and touched Him. John, speaking for himself and his fellow believers, saw the glory of Jesus, the Christ. They not only touched, saw and heard, they saw His glory. Once three of His disciples saw His physical glory-what we usually think of as glory-a bright light. But they also saw him dusty and tired, sweaty from a long hot day’s hike. They saw His face haggard from fatigue. They saw Him naked, features marred with the sin of mankind. They saw Him resurrected. They saw Him and truly knew who He was. They saw His character and the character of Him who sent Him—His glory.

They had all the physical manifestations of a living Person. They believed. We do not have the physical presence. We believe. WE believe not in absence of evidence, but in absence of confirming physical evidence. Like a rainbow, His glory shines through the raindrops of our dreary world; an image projected by the sun of revelation in our hearts to our inner vision through the medium of the eye of faith. We see His glory real enough to touch, taste, smell and hear. It sings to us in birdsong and the voice of our beloved. We taste it in chocolate and spaghetti. We smell it in rose and lilac and perfume. We behold His glory—His character--the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father.

June 24, 2011