Dizzying

I am in St Louis this week for the PCUSA General Assembly.  I have been told that it can feel like a dizzying event from all the meetings, plenaries, gatherings, etc.  Everything gets rolling tomorrow for the most part.  But my dizzying today came from two things - a passage from 1 Timothy and then a walk after I arrived here.  I read 1 Timothy 4-6 this morning but listened to it a few times on my drive here and I heard something in the audio version that I didn't pick up when I read it - 6:16 - "He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen."  It honestly feels a bit out of place with what is around it but it just really spoke to me when I heard it this afternoon.

It came back to me tonight as I walked to the Arch here in St Louis.  This thing is BIG!  Standing right underneath it was honestly rather dizzying, especially at one point right near a big flight of stone steps.  It is a beautiful sight but hard to take in especially as you get closer to it.  As a photographer, the closer I got, the harder it was to capture the whole arch.

Its funny, but I think that's how our relationship with God goes.  The closer we get to God, the more beautiful God gets, the more detail you see, the more powerful God feels.  But the closer we get, the harder it is to see and take in the fullness of God (not that we ever can truly take in the fullness of God).  There's a wonderful beauty in this mystery for me.