MIRROR STUDY BIBLE Volume 3 of 3 Featuring the writings of Apostle John

I do not read music, but have often witnessed our son, Stefan, approach a new piece on the piano.

His eyes see so much more than mere marks scribbled on a page;

he hears the music.

His trained mind engages even the subtleties and the nuances of the original composition, and is able to repeat the authentic sound,

knowing that the destiny of the music would never be reduced to the page;

but is always in the next moment,

where the same intended beauty is heard

and repeated again.

The best translation would always be the incarnation.

I so value the enormity of the revelation of the incarnation.

Yet, before flesh, the Word was προς

face to face with God.

And fragile text

scribbled thru the ages in memoirs of stone, parchment and papyrus pages -

carrying eternity in thought

and continues to translate faith

to faith.

Now we have the same spirit of faith as he encountered when he wrote...

"I believe

and so I speak."

Conversation ignites.

"Did not our hearts burn within our being when he spoke familiar text of ancient times, in the voices of Moses and the prophets and David and Abraham,

who saw his day

and announced its dawn in our hearts.

The mystery that was hidden for ages and generations

is now revealed.

In dealing daily with ancient text,

rediscovering thoughts buried in time, I am often overwhelmed and awed at the magnificence of eternity captured in little time capsules,

opening vistas of beauty beyond our imagination- face to face with the same face to faceness of the Logos

and God

and us - conceived in their dream.

And irresistibly intrigued by the invitation to come and drink -

to taste and see -

from the source -

and to hear a saint reminiscing and reminding himself of the utterance of another earth dweller-brother, David, who wrote a song 1000 BC,

"Return to your rest, oh my soul.

For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

I believe and so I speak."

And with fresh wounds bleeding from the many angry blows he was dealt with, Paul echoes,

"We have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, 'I believe and so I speak.' We too believe and so we speak."

Let's celebrate the "sameness" of Jesus

yesterday - yes, as far as history and beyond time can go -

and today. This very finite, fragile moment -

plus, the infinite future.

Inexhaustible, beyond boundaries and the confines of space and time.