Dear Faith, Cheap Sight

I went to visit one of our regulars last month who lives at Threshfield. We walked through some woods as we chatted, and were delighted to spot three young does grazing. Although they gracefully walked away at our approach, they were evidently not unused to seeing people, and watched us pass from thirty yards. On our circuitous route, we passed one again, this time among the shrubs and bracken, camouflaged but not hidden. I took a photo on my phone, which seldom does justice to nature’s splendour, much less a young deer hiding among the scrub. After reviewing the shot, you may still doubt the veracity of my claims, yet I assure you, there is a deer in the photo.

Paul tells the Corinthians that we walk by faith, not by sight. God’s promises stand whether or not you can see their fulfilment. God’s love, power and even existence are real even when your eyes cannot discern them. An object’s ability to reflect photons is not necessary for it to be real. If you don’t believe me, wet your fingers and stick them in a wall socket. Although this is a course of action I strongly urge against, you will certainly gain an appreciation of the presence and power of something invisible.

According to Paul in Colossians 1, the invisible God was made visible in the person of Jesus Christ who came and lived among us. Many of His own received Him not, for failing to recognise who was among them. They saw a carpenter, but not their Maker; they saw a man and not the Son of Man; they saw a teacher and not the Truth.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 16:17