Holiness and glory …

I came across this quote from Fred Buechner recently:

“One holy place I know is a workshop attached to a barn. There is a wood-burning stove in it made out of an oil drum. There is a workbench, dark and dented, with shallow, crammed drawers behind one of which a cat lives. There is a girlie calendar on the wall, plus various lengths of chain and rope, shovels and rakes of different sizes and shapes, some worn-out jackets and caps on pegs, an electric clock that doesn’t keep time. On the workbench are two small plug-in radios, both of which have serious things wrong with them. There are several metal boxes full of wrenches and a bench saw. There are a couple of chairs with rungs missing. There is an old yellow bulldozer with its tracks caked with mud parked against one wall. The place smells mainly of engine oil and smoke — both wood smoke and pipe smoke. The windows are small, and even on bright days what light there is comes through mainly in window-sized patches on the floor.
I have no idea why this place is holy, but you can tell it is the moment you set foot in it if you have an eye for that kind of thing. For reasons known only to God, it is one of the places God uses for sending God’s love to the world through.”
– Frederick Buechner – Originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Word

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It reminded me of a song I wrote years ago, that I think I appreciate now more than ever.

There’s a farm that I know … as I child I would go and run in the fields below.
Near a stream, on a hill, there’s an old windmill. In the afternoon sun it would glow
with the glory of God, the glory of God, the glory of God shining through.
And I pray for you that you’ll see it to, for this life is a search for the glory of God.
The whole world is full of the glory of God.
There are people I’ve met, some I’ll never forget, full of laughter, some young and some old.
Sometimes on a face, a mysterious grace seems to smile out and shine through like gold.
It’s the glory of God, it’s the glory of God, it’s the glory of God shining through.
And I pray for you that you’ll see it to, for this life is a search for the glory of God.
This world is aglow with the glory of God.
Light through a window, wind in the grass, a fish in the current, birds as they pass,
A dancer, a gesture, a joke, or a kiss … the glory shines through simple things such as this.
There are moments that come like a gift from someone who loves you but you hardly know.
They bring a tear to the cheek, and a catch when you speak, and the meaning you seek seems to flow
With the glory of God, the glory of God, the glory of God shining through.
And I pray for you that you’ll see it too, for this life is a search for the glory of God.
The world is on fire with the glory of God.