2 Corinthians 4:6-10, 16-18 ~ to give the light of the knowledge

2 Corinthians 4:6-10

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self [man] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

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Why are we so sad? Why do we blame God? Evils abound in the world so that the world will fail to seduce us into loving it.

-- St. Augustine

My father-in-law was an interesting man & I loved him. He reminded me of Humphrey Bogart - he was a determined person. Amazing amounts of self-confidence and sometimes known to be sarcastic. He owned a seat on the New York Stock Exchange after buying a failing brokerage, where he worked. It sounds very beneficial, but the men who owned it, before he bought it, were determined to put him in his place and not let him run the company. My father-in-law had them step down by sheer force in personality and shrewdness. He turned it from one failing brokerage, into four successful businesses in several states. I heard him say many times - most of his good fortune was being in the right place at the right time by luck. It would seem he had a privileged life and would know little of suffering. That sarcasm hid a very observant and tender heart. He was a man - people were unaware of the fact - took care of his grandmother who lived to be 100 years old (moving her to live near him), not many people with children, businesses and travel have time for a grandmother who is blind and deaf; his mother (seeing her twice, daily, when she was an invalid), and his brother. He accepted Jesus Christ when his grandmother told him she wanted to make sure his soul would be with her in heaven. He loved his wife with rare devotion - which everyone knew.

He was a man who walked the walk, not talk the talk. He didn't tell, ask or receive compliments for the good he did. I'm sure most of his hunting friends never knew of the toys and food he took to the impoverished children of his Mexican hunting guides. He did it after seeing the youngest child take great care to share a Coca-Cola with all of the other children.

He always said, "You get two lives - your childhood which really lasts 100 years. Remember when you are about 5 - a summer day lasts at least a year. Then you become an adult and it lasts about 20 years - even if you live to be past 80 - the years are gone and it's amazing they went by so quickly." There was an addition to this statement - he said you needed the years you were a child because many of the adult years are so difficult. My father-in-law knew. Years of very pressing responsibility for the people who worked for him. He woke up early every morning to worry about the day - at about 5:30. He smoked as he worried. My father-in-law knew many years of emphysema.

Being a blunt and direct man, the neighbors on his street sometimes found him to be... rude. But his neighbor across the street, for 38 years, gave my father-in-law's eulogy. It was beautiful. It ended with his friend's tears saying, "God is finding Heaven to be a better place today after a new arrival. Heaven is a good place this morning. My good friend is on his boat, on the great waters, heading out to find what he can find."

For all of us, no matter how we appear to each other.

Though our outer self [man] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

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