Imago Scriptura 48 - Fading
I'm finding that it's funny how sometimes when I read the Scripture passage in the morning, I think to myself that there's no way I am going to find a picture that connects with a part of these passages. That was this morning. I read the passages from the daily readings while I was on the elliptical at the gym. I read the first three chapters of 1 Chronicles which are a genealogy of sorts and I pretty much thought, well not much here for a picture. Then I get into John 5:25-47 which is a series of sayings from Jesus about John (the Baptizer). These sayings honestly are more than a bit confusing as it talks about John's light fading, about the testimony of Jesus being "weightier" than John's and then about accepting God's glory...Well nothing came to my heart at that time as I read the passages and so I finished my workout and headed home to get cleaned up for heading to the church.
It was a beautiful day today and I decided that it was a day for me to walk in rather than drive. So, I was about halfway there (and still chewing on these passages) when I came across this group of irises. They were not nearly as brilliant as they were a few days ago but there was still some color and life but clearly they were going the way of spring flowers fading. (Side note, the irises in our front yard are nearly 100% gone at this point - their light and color has long since faded). Well, I saw these and the words from John 5 jumped out to me, especially verse 35 - "John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light."
That is so like this experience for me with this iris. There was a period of enjoying the light and life of these flowers but that time is fading (but it will come again). John burned brightly and pointed the way to Jesus and now that Jesus was there, John's light was slowly fading.
Often though there are times when we have to let go of something when its time to pass along. The irises will not always be blooming, the light will not always burn bright. Spring will turn to summer to fall to winter and then return again.
I am grateful for the reminder of the cycles that God has built into the world - the cycles of life, death, and rebirth.