Glory

An important theological term in both the OT and the NT. The most important Hebrew word for glory, kabod, means “weight” or “importance.” Thus, to have glory is to be weighty or important to oneself or others. The notion of glory as applied to Christ’s human existence is most developed in the Gospel of John. God’s glory appears in Jesus. (via Harper-Collins Bible Dictionary)

John 2:11

¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Glimpsing Glory

Glory is to God what style is to an artist. A painting by Vermeer, a sonnet by Donne, a Mozart aria each is so rich with the style of the one who made it that to the connoisseur it couldn’t have been made by anybody else, and the effect is staggering. The style of artists brings you as close to the sound of their voices and the light in their eyes as it is possible to get this side of actually shaking hands with them. In the words of Psalm 19:1, “The heavens are telling the glory of God.” It is the same thing. To the connoisseur, not just sunsets and starry nights, but dust storms, rain forests, garter snakes, and the human face are all unmistakably the work of a single hand. Glory is the outward manifestation of that hand in its handiwork just as holiness is the inward. To behold God’s glory, to sense God’s style, is the closest you can get to God this side of paradise, just as to read King Lear is the closest you can get to Shakespeare. Glory is what God looks like when for the time being all you have to look at him with is a pair of eyes.

– Frederick Buechner, “Wishful Thinking” (1973)                                                                                                             

Reflection & Prayer

When is a time that you have personally glimpsed God’s glory?