Seeing The Invisible: Hidden Things
1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
When I started as a research student, many physics postgrads spent their first year or two designing and building their own scientific instruments. But I was lucky, because I was set to work on one of the first commercial nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers to be delivered in the UK. Our lab was even visited by Princess Margaret – I have the photo to prove it (and I’m sure she was absolutely fascinated…). This was in the early days of NMR, too soon for the sophisticated analysis which became possible in later years, and rather too late for me!
Much excitement in those days came from watching the gradual emergence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our familiar technique was developing, being installed into hospitals, and making visible so many things previously hidden from us – like the precise locations of tumours, and even some of the workings of a living human brain! What had always – always – been hidden was made visible.
The gospel writers tell us so much about the birth of Jesus, His ministry of teaching and healing, and the great events around Easter and beyond. But much remains hidden. What was he really like as a toddler, a teenager or a twenty-something carpenter? We read about his visit to the Temple at age 12, but just what was he discussing with the teachers of the law that fascinated them so much? What did he chat about at the wedding in Cana, or at the dinner parties thrown for him? And what did he talk with the Father about during those long nights of prayer? On a greater scale, just what will the ‘new heaven and new earth’ be like?
Clearly we don’t, just now, need to know all these things, but won’t it be wonderful when we finally see though Paul’s ‘reflection in a mirror’, and those hidden things, great and small, come to light!
Prayer — Come Holy Spirit, and please reveal to me everything I need to know to live for you today. When the time is right, show me all the hidden things - so I shall ‘know fully, even as I am fully known’.