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 Issue 25 <previous< Issue 026 Volume 6 No 1 February 2000 >next> Issue 27
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’”

No Frozen Images 
By Jimmy R Allen
(Exodus 20:4)

[Dr. Jimmy Allen is Chaplain at the Big Canoe resort community in the Georgia mountains north of Atlanta.]

No Graven Images!

The words seem relics of ancient days
What meaning for men rocketing through space
Unraveling life's mysteries?

Who now carves statues calling them gods?
Shades of worn out traditions and ancient rituals!

Yet the Ten Words received in the Darkness by Moses 
Reflect revelation of what God wants 
And the way life works.

No graven image.

These words are not about wood and stone but about 

Mindset and imagination
Don't let an image of God freeze in place. 
Make room for it to grow.

So much greater than our minds can contain 
God grants us glimpses of Himself.
Freezing that glimpse into place distorts and twists 
perception.

No frozen images!

Boldly shattering shackles of yesterday's idea,
God eludes traps in our tunnels of thought.
As we conform our insights to logical ways,
God laughs and shows another side of Himself.

No frozen images!

Sensing Him through our pain
Fine tunes our radar, shriveling or 
expanding our souls.
Sharing our pain frees Him to share His
Pain with us
And we learn to call it Grace.

No Frozen Images!

Discovering the backside of God on mountain tops
Creates both despair and delight
Yearning to see His face produces not maps but
His presence as guide.

By refusing to create Frozen Images, we find
Ourselves on Mounts of Transfiguration.
(Exodus 20:4)

[Dr. Jimmy Allen is Chaplain at the Big Canoe resort community in the Georgia mountains north of Atlanta.]

No Graven Images!

The words seem relics of ancient days
What meaning for men rocketing through space
Unraveling life's mysteries?

Who now carves statues calling them gods?
Shades of worn out traditions and ancient rituals!

Yet the Ten Words received in the Darkness by Moses 
Reflect revelation of what God wants 
And the way life works.

No graven image.

These words are not about wood and stone but about 

Mindset and imagination
Don't let an image of God freeze in place. 
Make room for it to grow.

So much greater than our minds can contain 
God grants us glimpses of Himself.
Freezing that glimpse into place distorts and twists 
perception.

No frozen images!

Boldly shattering shackles of yesterday's idea,
God eludes traps in our tunnels of thought.
As we conform our insights to logical ways,
God laughs and shows another side of Himself.

No frozen images!

Sensing Him through our pain
Fine tunes our radar, shriveling or 
expanding our souls.
Sharing our pain frees Him to share His
Pain with us
And we learn to call it Grace.

No Frozen Images!

Discovering the backside of God on mountain tops
Creates both despair and delight
Yearning to see His face produces not maps but
His presence as guide.

By refusing to create Frozen Images, we find
Ourselves on Mounts of Transfiguration.

 

Updated Tuesday, December 26, 2000


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