The Fear of the Lord:

To envisage what the biblical fear of God actually means, imagine a child at Christmas time in a huge department store. The top floor, the size of a whole city block, is filled with toys. When the child emerges from the elevator into this wonderland of desirable objects, her eyes grow bigger and bigger. She looks to the left and to the right, seeing everything her heart has ever desired: skis, T-bears, doll houses, toys, sleds, electric trains, computers. She wants to go in every direction at once. She is so enthralled that she does not know where to start. She wants to grasp everything and take it home.
The biblical fear of God is similar. We feel ourselves invited into a mystery that contains everything our hearts could possily desire. We experience the fascination of the Ultimate Mystery rather than fear of the unknown. We want to grasp or be grasped by the mystery of God's presence that opens endlessly in every direction.
(Invitation to Love: The Way of Christian Contemplation, by Thomas Keating)

thoughts by Jo...
I like this picture of a child... yet, something is missing for me. Knowing God is so much more than seeing all the "treats" He has for us- yet it is certainly part of the picture. I sometimes think we don't think enough about all the treasures He holds for us, waiting for our requests and for His perfect Timing...
I sometimes wrestle with feelings of being overwhelmed with knowing, (not just in my head, but in my heart,too), the goodness and bigness of our God.
It certainly is one of God's mysteries, this thing of intimacy with God ... As we desire to know Someone who we can't see with human eyes until we are Home...
So I go to God and ask Him to give us eyes to see the delightfulness and Fullness of Him... May He help us be in awe of who He is and who we are because of Him.
Today I desire to go to His feet to sit with Him as I seek to know Him, even as I am known.
Yes.
May it be so.
Help us, God.