The Statue

This guy seriously creeps me out. He is only one of a large column of statues that are propping up a hotel on Brickell Avenue in downtown Miami. They form an army of silent sentinels that stare out at passersby. I have passed them often by car, but I usually look the other way. This time, however, I was on foot, and curiosity got the better of me. I took a closer look.

Standing right under their noses, I touched their metal skins and peered into their unseeing eyes, confirming to myself that they were inanimate and harmless. But as I walked among the rows of mute sculptures, I couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness. The whole atmosphere was dark and gloomy-- creepy. Just beyond the darkened driveway, the Florida sun was shining, beckoning me to come out from the gloom and do what people are meant to do in Miami--Drink in the sunshine! Frolic on the beaches!

The artist who created these may not have had the term 'idols' in mind when he sculpted them, but that is what they reminded me of. The fact that people all over the world worship idols, unseeing and inanimate, saddens me. Can something a human being has created with his own hands see into a human heart, know her thoughts, feel her pain, heal her wounds--love her, understand her, comfort her?

One day when I was in my 20's, God stopped me, literally, in my tracks. He revealed to me in one abrupt moment that He was real and alive--a Being who knew my thoughts and saw my heart. If I had really understood then exactly who I was dealing with, it might have been a terrifying moment, but it wasn't. I felt oddly comforted and loved. Later on, He revealed some of His many names, (Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Redeemer, Counselor); His nature, (compassionate, forgiving); His heart, (loving, eternal). Nothing about Him is creepy or gloomy. Mysterious, yes. Creepy, no.

God longs for us to walk out from the gloom and bask in the warmth of His presence. But He is not willing to share us with idols that we have created with our own hands or hearts, whatever shape they may take. He is Light and Hope and Life--the Creator of all things in this world and in the world we cannot see. What created thing can possibly trump that?

I thank God that He reached down that night and pulled me out of the gloom and walked me into the light--where I am still basking in His love and frolicking in His tenderness.

So long, creepy statues. I won't be visiting you again.

"This is what the LORD says—
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God." Isaiah 44:6