Icicles and Faith

    It has been quite a winter, and though my kids have loved the snow, they are ready to get back to school.  With layer upon layer of snow, it has been weeks since we’ve seen grass in our yard, much less the roof of our house.  The temperatures continues to stay below or at freezing, yet the sun has been consistent in melting much of the snow.  The result has been that along the shady side of our home, there is a line of icicles hanging from the gutters.

   These icicles range from 1-3 inches at the top and over three feet in length.  Some are straight, some curve in toward the house, and some curve out toward the yard.  Some are thin, some are wide, but during the day all slough off droplets of water.  Drip, drip, drip the water flows, and as it does it reduces the width of the icicles but it lengthens them as well.
    There are times when we hear a crash outside, and we know that the melting has taken its toll on one of the stalactites.  That which was hanging on above now lies as ice upon the snow beneath, and despite our warnings far too often the ice pencils end up as snacks for our five year old!
    I remember being a kid and snacking on the same, and I also remember how excited I was when I saw that icicles had.  I still do, and many join me in my excitement.  After all, they are beautiful structures and each is unique.  Not only that, they change size and shape over time, so one can examine an icicle throughout the day and observe how the atmosphere affects it.
    Not only is their beauty fascinating and never constant, but I have always loved the fact that the creation of an icicle is no simple thing.  It takes time to form.  It has to have the right conditions of sun and cold in order to be created, and it usually takes a long time before it is melted. 

    As I reflect upon icicles I find myself reflecting upon faith as well.  After all, like the source of the icicles being snow, faith often emerges from a major event in life, and as that event unfolds there are often conditions which make way for that faith to form.  Quickly that faith can form, but in truth solid faith develops over time, though it is no simply thing.
    Faith has commonality, and yet the faith of each is unique.  Faith and the one who lives into that faith changes size and shape depending on the spiritual atmosphere around them, and the source of change that comes from the Son.  Faith change comes as the Son of God shines upon us, and as the community of faith acts as the hands of Christ, molding and moving us to be formed into God’s image.  Faith, like icicles, is a beautiful thing.
    Now some might wonder what one does about the fact that icicles fall and shatter or that they eventually melt away, and I would say that is true.  It can also be true about the faith, for there are times when it seems our faith is shattered or that over time it seems like our faith almost melts away or becomes dormant.  And yet, there will always be big events in life and conditions unfold which make way for faith in us to be reformed and shaped into a beautiful thing.

    John Wesley was an Anglican priest in the 1700s.  He is also the founder of the Methodist movement, out of which has developed the United Methodist Church, in which I am a pastor.  Central to Wesleyan theology is the idea that God’s love is everywhere, in everything, and for everyone.  This is known as “Prevenient Grace” – God’s love which goes before us and invites us to be a part of God’s work in the world, even before we might recognize it.  It is our belief that such love is for all, and it is always inviting for us to be a part of God’s great Kingdom.
    When we acknowledge and receive that love and discover that God loves even us, then like those icicles, we are formed into something unique and beautiful.  Even more powerful, when it feels like our faith has been shattered or melted away, then that same prevenient grace continues to seek us out.  And along the way, God sends major events and sets up the right conditions for us, even us to be formed again into God’s beautiful creation again and again.

Invitation: practice opening your heart and eyes to see again where and how it is that God’s prevenient grace might be beckoning you to be reformed in the image of God.