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The challenge of the spiritual life, of course, is to find Christ there, which can seem like searching for a manger in a haystack. That is surely why Paul prays, in the text to which the song alludes, that the eyes of our hearts will be enlightened, so that we can indeed perceive God in the world beyond our eyelids, with its perplexing mix of magnificence and misery. As for opening our eyes—well, even Bartimaeus and his friends had to do some of that for themselves.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

A ready-to-download Bible Study on this article is available at ChristianBibleStudies.com. These unique Bible studies use articles from current issues of Christianity Today to prompt thought-provoking discussions in adult Sunday school classes or small groups.

Crouch is editor-in-chief of re:generation quarterly.

Many of Crouch's other writings are available at his and his wife's website.

Earlier Andy Crouch columns for Christianity Today include:

The Future Is P.O.D.Multicultural voices have an edge in reaching a rapidly changing America. (October 12, 2002)

Rekindling Old FiresWe can resist technology's chilling effects on how we spend time together. (August 2, 2002)

Interstate NationThe national highway system is a lesson in how to transform a nation. (June 21, 2002)

Amplified VersionsWorship wars come down to music and a power plug. (April 17, 2002)

Thou Shalt Be CoolThis enduring American slang leaves plenty out in the cold. (March 18, 2002)

Borrowing Against TimeWe live in a fallen world. We will die. We need to face that. (Jan. 17, 2002)

GroundedOur technologies give us an illusion of omnipresence—most of the time. (Nov. 15, 2001)

Zarathustra ShruggedWhat apologetics should look like in a skeptical age. (Sept. 5, 2001)

Consuming PassionsOne man's "testimony" from the First Great Mammon Awakening. (July 10, 2001)

Generation MisinformationForget the latest PowerPoint seminars on Generations X-Z. (May 16, 01)

Dead Authors SocietyWe're no longer interested in tasting death but only little morsels of cheer. (Mar. 28, 2001)

Promises, PromisesOur technology works. But all idols do at first. (Feb. 21, 2001)

A Testimony in ReverseI have discovered how inconvenient it can be when God actually does speak. (Feb. 5, 2001)

Crunching the NumbersA modest proposal for measuring what really matters in church life. (Dec. 20, 2000)

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December 9 2002, Vol. 46, No. 13