The Seer

“And a great hand reached out of the dark and grasped mine for a moment, mightily and tenderly.

I said to myself, ‘The Veil between, though very dark, is very thin.’” -George MacDonald, Phantastes

What stunning imagery MacDonald uses to describe God’s tenderness towards us.

So often I see the veil as thick, impermeable, shrouding my sense of nearness to God.

I’m reading through the Old Testament book of Daniel and marveling at a man who saw through the veil. This seer had visions and dreams and was able to interpret the dreams of the Babylonian king. For Daniel, the spiritual world was as real as the natural.

Yet it isn’t Daniel’s spiritual gifting that impresses me the most. It’s his courage to stand up for his convictions. Although held captive in a foreign land, Daniel never bowed the knee to a pompous king who demanded complete allegiance. No, he never wavered in his beliefs, even though death seemed inevitable because he would not.

I want to be like Daniel—the same person in public as I am in the quietness of my art room when alone with God.

I long for Daniel’s courage to overwhelm my cowardice, that pitiful part of me that tends to cave in to the strongest voice in the room. Daniel inspires me to look past what my earthly eyes can see and to trust in what I cannot see.

This painting, The Seer, is for all of those brave Daniels out there who do not bow the knee. May your strength inspire us to live as if the veil were thin.

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