And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV

Once, while practicing contemplative prayer with a couple of friends, I saw the image of a glorious yellow flower with large petals like a tulip. Its stamens were laden with an abundance of pollen. A small bee began buzzing around its centre trying to gain a foothold. As the bee clumsily buzzed in and out and back and forth seeking to secure a footing, it became enrobed with the gold dust of the flower’s pollen.

Although the bee never managed to actually land on the flower it still succeeded in picking up great deposits of pollen on the hairs of its head, antennae, body and legs. And although it flew off without having landed, the bee had succeeded in its mission of carrying and distributing pollen to other flowers along its way – far beyond the range of the first flower.

I sensed the flower and the bee were an image of myself and my friends. Like the little bee struggling to find purchase on the flower, each of us were struggling to establish a foothold in the presence of God. To draw as close to Him as we could. We often approach contemplative prayer, which should be as simple as resting in the presence of God, as daunting and arduous. As if we have to strive to draw near to God.

But God was showing me that even in our feeble and fumbling attempts to draw near to Him we become bathed in His glory. And that, like the bee, even though we may feel we’ve missed the mark, when we leave to go back to the world around us we carry His glory on us and distribute a little of it to everyone we come in contact with, whether or not they – or we – realize it.

Like Moses, who had to put a veil over his face after being in the presence of God because the radiant glow he carried was so bright it frightened people, we too carry a noticeable radiance after spending time in God’s presence. I have seen this glowing countenance on the faces of devout people who regularly spend time in prayer seeking God’s presence. I called it a “grace face” before I understood what it was, but even then  I sensed a measure of  God’s glory on them that went beyond anything I saw on other people in our church.

May we never give up trying to draw near to our Lord who has wondrous riches of grace and glory He wants to bestow on us, His children.