The Visionary Contemplative

Somewhere along the way I read that those first eighteen verses of the gospel of John served as an introduction to the whole gospel.  It is certainly a logical point to make as many of the themes and images within that section known as The Prologue are found in the verses and chapters which follow.  But, there is a sense in which something more is happening.  It seems that John has caught a vision, or a larger view of what is before him and out of that contemplative moment writes those things which are stirring in his heart. 

 

Some have even suggested that The Prologue is a gospel unto itself and while such a conclusion is understandable, it still seems a stretch to separate it so completely from the rest of the gospel which follows.  The Prologue and the body of the gospel seem too linked to regard them as separate literary endeavors.  John obviously sees more than just the task of the narrative which is before him.  As a man who is so different than the writers of the other gospels, he was inspired by the Spirit to write in a way that reflects both his heart and his experience with the Risen Lord.

 

It is always true that our encounters with Jesus create different narratives.  Some of us talk about our encounter with Jesus with precise details and some of us find it hard to put into words exactly what transpired in our hearts and so we run for some metaphor or image that speaks more about what is being felt in our hearts than known in our minds.  Neither one sits on a higher plane than the other.  Both speak of how it is that the Christ revealed Himself.  No one should expect it to be any different for someone like John as he wrote his gospel, or anyone of us who speaks of how it is for us to walk with Jesus. 

First Words

As I start reading John's gospel, I find myself wondering why it was that he made no mention of the Holy Spirit in those first few words he wrote.  It seems that he missed a real opportunity to write a word about the Trinity, but he went another way as he wrote,   "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  (John 1:1)   About all that is left is speculating and guessing which is always a dangerous thing to do.  Many a heresy, or false teaching, has been pushed because someone thought they could figure out what God was really thinking.

What we do have in those first few words is a word about a relationship.  It gets complicated.  To be honest is to confess how difficult it is for us to get our minds wrapped around the idea that there is one God and, yet, the Jesus who came into the world was "In the beginning...with God...and was God."  What the Apostle is pointing us toward means considering what can be thought of as "separate, but in inseparable."  There is one God, but we speak of Him as we speak of Jesus and as we speak of Him as the Father God.  The Word (Jesus) and God are separate, but still inseparable.

I cannot begin to call myself figuring it out.  I know what the Word of God which was written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is proclaiming, but it sometimes can only be understood as mystery.  There are things about God I believe.  My life is built on those beliefs.  My hope is built on those beliefs.  But, to believe in God, to trust in Jesus, and to be convinced that the Holy Spirit brings divine presence into my life is for me filled with mystery.  It brings me to the Holy.  I believe, but it is not because I understand.  "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  (Hebrews 11:1)

Go Figure

Any reader of the New Testament who starts with Matthew and reads the gospels in the order they are printed immediately realizes there is something different about the one written by John.  While Matthew and Mark seem intent on telling the Jesus story in a way which often seems to mimic Mark, the first gospel to be circulated, John is obviously a different kind of thinker and writer. Unlike Matthew, the teacher who wants to make sure folks get it right, Luke, the physician who has all the people of the whole world in view, and Mark, the one who writes like a real man as he says what he has to say with as few words as possible, the writer John is more the mystic, more the contemplative.

The very first words written by John signal us that something new is about to be written.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  (John 1:1)  Right up front John gives his readers something on which to chew.  Surely, these first words and the words  which follow in that larger eighteen verse section known as the Prologue warn us that more than just a narrative will follow.  John is the creator of word pictures and images.  He speaks of Jesus in the midst of the stream of life as it tells the story of the wedding at Cana of Galilee. 

John enables us to experience Jesus in so many new and unique ways.  Not only is He the Lamb of God, but He is also the bread of life and in the very first words of the gospel the name given is the Word.  We can only wonder why John did not simply say, "In the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God."   Would such have not been clearer and more obvious?  Apparently, John wants us to join him in considering Jesus, the One sent from God.  More than seeing Him as the main character in the narrative, John wants us to spend time thinking and meditating until we figure some things out for ourselves.     

In the Beginning

In the Beginning,
   not before,
   nor after,
   inside "in"
   not outside.
In the mix
   making stuff
   with nothing
   God at work.
In real time,
   Word spoken,
   hand moving,
   Will working.
In the Beginning,
   Word present,
    God present,
    Spirit, too.

(John 1:1)

The Treetop Battle

It was an epic battle.  It was one that rivaled the battle of the ants described by Henry David Thoreau in "Walden."   At the very top of a very old and tall pecan tree the web worms had eaten all the foliage from a limb and the birds had found them.  From one web to another they darted as they enjoyed their afternoon feast.  Since the worms had destroyed all the leaves which might have hidden them, they had no defense.  As I watched the frenzy in the tree top, I took a measure of pleasure in knowing that the worms were not doing so well. 

Of course, the worm was doing what web worms do and the birds were following the same course.  They were doing what birds do.  Out there in the creation we see ample evidence that the created order lives according to the way created.  It seems that those of us who walk upright on two legs, have plenty of brain power, and live close to the top of the food chain should be able to figure out our role in the creation.  But, alas, we seem to stay in trouble.  Like the web worms we often embrace such destructive patterns of living that we end up in trouble.  And like those preying birds, we often live in such a way as to benefit from the mistakes of others. 

Life can be messy when we forget who we are and how we were created to live.  Life is never all about me, but instead, it is to be lived with an "it's all about us" spirit.  The Scripture calls us to live as people who manifest righteousness.  Now, righteousness has nothing to do with some high degree of spiritual living.  It is not attained only by those who spend inordinate amounts of time doing spiritual things. Righteousness is about how we live.  The righteous live in a right relationship with God.  They also live in a right relationship with those around them.  To live as those who are righteous is to live in a way that enables us to be true to who we are and how we were created to live.

A Way to Listen

One of the things I have learned about the tradition of Celtic spirituality from recent readings is the way it underscores God speaking through the creation.  It goes so far as to say that God speaks not only through the written Word, but also through the creation which is around us.   It is easy to understand why some would say the Celtic tradition is pantheistic which from the reading I have done does not seem to be the case.  What does seem to be true is that those who stand in the stream of Celtic spirituality have a greater awareness of the way the creation points toward God.

 

With all this turning over in my mind today, I found myself thinking about the different ways we are pointed toward God through some aspect of the creation.  The sun rising could be a reminder to us of the One who spoke of Himself as the Light of the World.  The light of the full moon penetrates the darkness.  The wind causes us to think of the Spirit.  And, of course, the world around us is full of things which point to Biblical images.  Some of the things which come to mind are grape vines, fruit producing trees, sowing and harvesting fields, wells from which water can be pulled from the earth, trees planted by the streams, grazing animals, birds of the airs, and flowers growing around us. 

 

An interesting experiment which would surely have some spiritual value to us would be to carry a pad and pen with us though one day's run of the sun and write down all the things which are a part of creation that somehow bring to mind the presence of God in the world, or some teaching which provides nurture for our spiritual life.  Once we start looking, once we allow ourselves to be pay attention, there is no end to the things which can be seen and surely in the midst of it all, we will hear a Word from God. 

Not the Only Holy Space

More than a few times I had someone explain their absence from Sunday worship by saying something like, "Preacher, my church is on the river...or at the lake...."  While it was not my place to offer an argument, I often wondered if they took their Bible to the river, or their fishing tackle.  I never was convinced those Sunday absentees were going to the river to worship God when they only took their fishing gear. 

 

Of course, it is true that God can be worshipped in any place.  As I have gone along this road of faith, I have come to the place of believing that holy space is not just the space within the four walls of a church building.  However, this does not mean that the holy space within the four walls is not a place of value in our spiritual lives.  As we read the Biblical story we find many stories where places were marked as holy because of encounters with God.  Stones were often used to mark such  places as a way of reminding the generations still to come that a place was holy not just because it was a part of the created order, but because it was a place where God had revealed Himself.

 

It does not need to be one or the other. The fact that the ground all around us is holy ground does not change the reality that some space has been marked and set apart as holy by the prayers of the people of God and God's response to those prayers.  The holy space within the four walls stands within the holy space of the earth around it, but not everyone who looks sees and knows this.  Thus, the holy space of a sanctuary visibly points those who see to the reality that what is holy stands among us.  And, maybe in time, it will be a reminder that the church building is not the only holy space. 

Holy Ground

To think of the earth, all of the earth, as holy ground is a stretch for some.  And, it is understandable.  Most of my working years were spent in an urban setting filled with signs which pointed more to the creation of humanity than the creation of God.  When stepping outdoors means seeing rows of cookie cutter houses, soaring buildings, oceans of pavement, and streams of asphalt, it is easy not to see the creation.  The sun becomes something which sets us on our way to work and the moon's light is obliterated by the ever present lights that chase away the darkness. 

 

It is not that we cannot see the creation of the heavenly Father, but that it is overwhelmed by what men and women have created within it.  Thus, thinking of it as holy is difficult simply because being able to see it is difficult.  However, what we do or do not see does not change the fact that the world was created by the Creator God who brought it into being and spun it into existence.  He gave it life.  Every living creature is indebted to His creating Spirit.  Every rock and tree and piece of dirt has passed through His hands and laid carefully upon the earth.  What we see around us is holy not because humans like us have prayed over it, but because it all bears the mark of the Holy Creator.

 

Certainly, this is not to say that the rock, or the tree, or the sun, or the moon is God.  But, it and every other part of creation was given its place in the created order for the Creator's purpose.  We may think the earth is here for our enjoyment, or for our pleasure, or for us to use until it can give no more, but it is all here for purposes designed by the Creator from before the very beginning.  The earth and the universe around it is set apart for His purpose; thus, it is holy.  Holy ground abounds, but not just in the sanctuaries made of brick and mortar. 

Some Re-Thinking

For longer than I can remember, maybe even forever, I have contrasted the holy space of the sanctuary with the secular world which surrounds it.  And, while I was thinking more about the two different cultures being alongside of one another, I also was declaring the prayed over space of the sanctuary as holy and the outside the sanctuary space as space not holy.  As I read J. Philip Newell's book entitled, "Listening for the Heartbeat of God, A Celtic Spirituality" I realized a need to do some re-thinking.

 

At one point he writes, "As the history of Celtic spirituality shows, it is a tradition that can stand free of the four walls of the Church, for the sanctuary of God is not separate from but contained within the whole of creation."  Immediately I recalled the passage about the earth being the Lord's and also the one which speaks of the created order being good.  And, I remembered, too, some earlier thoughts about the farm on which I now live in retirement being a sanctuary bounded not by brick and mortar, but by the meeting of earth and sky at the horizon. 

 

What the Celtic tradition declares is something I had sensed within me, but still I am not sure I had ever taken the step of considering the whole earth, the entire creation, to be holy.  But, it is.  It has all been set apart for His purposes as surely as we set apart buildings for holy purposes with our prayers.  Even as we think of the sanctuary as a holy place where God is likely to be encountered, so does the Celtic tradition call us to know that God is just as likely to be encountered outside the walls as inside of them.  Be on the lookout.  God is there.  God is here.  God is with us.  God is in us.  God is everywhere.

Seeking the Impossible

When I was growing up and even beyond those growing up days, I have heard folks say something like, "There is some good in the worst of us."  I like to think that those who speak such words are right.  Maybe such is really how it is with all of us.  We are a mixture of moments which merit a pat on the back and others which should provide a kick in the rear end.  Far from perfect and not totally bad is, perhaps, an accurate description of most of us .

 

In the reading I am doing on Celtic spirituality I am learning that this tradition is built on the belief that there is good in each of us because we are created in the image of God.  (Genesis 1:27)  This is certainly no surprising thought as Genesis teaches this in its earliest words.  Yet, it is also true that the Word says, "Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me."  (Psalm 51:5)  And in Paul's letter to the Romans, he writes, "There is no one who is righteous, not even one."  (Romans 3:9)  The Scripture can at times be rather messy.  It often leaves us with what does not seem to fit together; yet, somehow these messy paradoxes still proclaim divine truth.

 

I suppose if we could figure it out, we would have no need to read the Word.  I suppose what is divinely inspired is going to befuddle this finite mind with which I was created.  Long centuries ago this conflicting truth created an unbearable tension for the Celtic spiritual community and the established Roman Catholic Church which resulted in the stream of Celtic spirituality being forced underground.  We seek to avoid the tension.  It makes us uncomfortable. We like things to be orderly, logical, and pleasing to our own theological perspective.  Maybe we are sometimes seeking the impossible.

The Thin Veil

Recently I have been doing some reading about Celtic spirituality.  While Celtic music may be more familiar to us, there is a vein of spirituality which originated in Ireland and Scotland long centuries ago. There was a time when it would have disappeared completely had it not gone underground alongside the mainstream Roman Catholic Church.    One of the distinctive parts of that tradition is a belief that there are places where the veil between earth and heaven is very thin.  It is an image that surely brings to mind that Hebrew passage about the great cloud of heavenly witnesses.

 

As I reflect back over my years of ministry and preaching, I realize that I have often preached this "thin veil" theology.  The time I was most likely to preach about it was on All Saints Sunday which is not too far away on the liturgical calendar.  There was something very special and eternal about that service of worship as the names of the departed saints were called and the people on this side were called to the Table for the holy meal.  There was a sense in which that Table, though present and physical among us, seemed to disappear into that invisible realm where those on the other side gathered with us.

 

Perhaps, it has to do with my experience of dealing with the early and untimely death of my Father when I was hardly a child that sent me as an adult to a place of considering how we are here and they are there and hardly is there anything between us.  I remember so many who have crossed over the dark river.  Sometimes I find myself walking about and calling their names.  It is not that my calling the names will bring them back into my presence, but maybe they, being there on the other side of that ever present thin veil, hear and know that they have not been forgotten.

Before the Beginning

It has been almost fifty years since I first came and walked on this land.  When I came then, it was just as one who visits.  It was not a place I ever thought about living as I do now.  As I started picking up another year of pecans under the trees that stand around the place, I remembered that they were here, tall and old and producing, back then.  Long before I came they were here.  And the two sycamore trees which now tower head and shoulders above all the other trees near the branch were surely here then, too, but I do not remember looking their way. 

 

It is impossible to walk on the land which is now home without knowing that I have only been here a speck in time.  And when I am gone, my presence will still be no more than a speck.  I hope the trees that tower over me will still be standing when I am gone.  It would be an unbearable sadness to see these things which have lived so long lifeless, stretched out, and broken on the ground.  I do not see God in the trees, or in the fields which have given birth to many crops, but I do see signs which point to Him roaming around on the place doing what only the Creator of the Universe can do. 

 

Daily I am amazed.  Daily I walk in awe at what surrounds me.  Daily I am humbled, mindful more than ever of who I am in the scheme of things.  I do not feel nearly as important as I used to see myself.  I am not the only player who has walked on this stage, but simply one of many.  Many have come before me and there will be many who will come after me.  But, as for now, this is where God has graced me with life and where He has provided a dwelling place.  In these final days and years which are far away from all that is a part of my past, I sense a greater awareness that I am walking and working and living in the presence of the One who has been here since before the beginning. 

Not Through Yet

One of the things we like least about our life is change.  We like for things to be like they have been, like they are supposed to be, and like we want them to be.  And, if the truth is told, we like our people, the ones around us, the ones important to us, to be the same way.  The problem is that none of the things and none of the people in our lives stay the same.  Each is afflicted with change. 

 

But, of course, change is not just something which comes upon the things external.  Change takes place inside of us as well.  So often we do not really see it happening.  We grow accustomed to seeing ourselves a certain way, we become comfortable with what we think, and we figure we have arrived.  But, even the things about us which we perceive to be nailed down can come loose, or maybe,  pulled loose. 

 

It even happens with something which is thought to be poured in concrete, things like the way we see ourselves in our faith journey.  As I reflect on my journey from the symbol filled interior of the church to the interior of the sun lit canopy of the sky, I have become aware of the way God is seen through windows that have never before been opened.  So many things about being so close to the earth have shaped my spirit, the way I experience God being present, the way I pray and worship.  I never expected so much change to take place in these last years.  I guess it is just one more indication that God never really gets through with us. 

Spiritual DNA

There was a time when I did some genealogical research.  I knew a little about some of the folks who were up my family tree and thought a longer look might prove interesting.  I also happened to live in a community which took pride in its genealogical library which made things easier.  Of course, this was the day before all the on line research sites.  Getting information required more than clicking and moving a mouse. 

 

Maybe the next on line service will help us discover our spiritual DNA.  When we do genealogical research, we are never sure where it will take us.  Maybe the same would be true if we started doing some research into what religious influences affected our spiritual lives.  As I allowed my mind to start wandering down this track I thought about my theological training at a United Methodist seminary.  I also thought about the influence of a United Methodist Junior College as well as the evangelical school where I got my degree.  Having grown up in the Methodist Church, it is certainly plausible to say that a good portion of my spiritual DNA is Wesleyan.

 

But, not everyone has such an academic exposure and the more I reflect upon sources of influence, the more I realize what a mixture of spiritual influences have shaped me.  I think some recent readings into Celtic Spirituality have caused this kind of reflection.  Some of what I have been reading really resonates in my spirit.  And, in these years after the pulpit I have found some Roman Catholic writers who really have set me to thinking in some new ways.  One of the things often discovered in genealogical research is the way we are a mixture of different cultures.  The further I go along, the more this also seems true of my spiritual life as well.  Maybe we are mostly something but still souls with a good portion of other stuff. 

Words to Live By

Back when I was a green preacher and assigned to the Stapleton Charge in Jefferson County, I would occasionally listen to a religious spot provided by the local radio station in Louisville.  It came on around 11 pm and featured a preacher whose name I have long ago forgotten.  Neither do I remember his denomination.  What I do remember is that he called his daily program, "Words to Live By" sometimes they seemed more like "Words to Die By" because they were so full of words about God's wrath and judgment.  His word seldom encouraged sleep.

 

However, today as I was doing some reading, I came across some real "Words to Live By."  The 11th verse of the 40th Psalm reads, "Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness keep me safe forever."  All day long I have lived by these words as they have been carried around in my mind and heart.  They were easy enough to memorize and throughout the day I found myself going back to them, repeating the words, and offering them as a ongoing prayer as I moved about in the day.

 

More than anything else I was struck by the last few Words which read, "...keep me safe forever."  As one who had recently prayed to be kept safe through a bad storm, I quickly realized this prayer was one that impacted a part of my life which was much greater than a single night and a single storm.  Forever is a long time.  Forever includes all the storms which might be unseen over the edge of the horizon.  The Psalmist first offered this prayer to God.  It is a prayer inside the will of the Father, otherwise, it would not be in the Word.  It is a prayer I am going to continue carrying around with me.  Maybe you might like to do it, too. 

Spiritual Thrill Seekers

There are some out there on the road toward God who are more like thrill seekers who go from one high to another always seeking an adventure which is more daring and exciting than the previous one. They are on the road traveled  by pilgrims who are seeking God, but just being a God seeking pilgrim is never quite enough.  Such folks are experience seekers.  If someone talks about speaking in tongues, they want to master it.  If they read a book about centering prayer, they becomes obsessed with perfecting it.  Maybe they are mountain top jumpers, never content with life in the valley.  Going from one experience to another is their definition of the Christian life.

Unfortunately, for them, listening for the Voice of God is more about checking something off the list.  Like other spiritual pursuits, it can be something to add to a spiritual resume, or an accomplishment to record in some personal spiritual account book.  But, before rushing to judgment, it must be acknowledged that there is a bit of such in too many of us.  Maybe even in you and me.  While learning to listen for the Voice of God is a worthy and valued spiritual pursuit, it can never become an end itself.  Listening for the Voice of God is not really about you and me, but about God.

Too many times we do become spiritual thrill seekers always looking for something new on the road toward spiritual maturity.  It is easy to become experience seekers.  This is what we must often confess.  "Hey, I want that..." we say.  Who is to say that we may not hear the Voice of God even though we do it for the wrong reasons?  But, always it is important to remember that what we are called to seek is not the experience, or the spiritual gift, or the exciting thing in another person's spiritual life.  Instead, what we are to seek is really a Who.  We are on this road to seek not an experience, but God. 

Forever Holy

"Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening." (I Samuel 3:9)  When these words were first given to Samuel by his spiritual mentor, Eli, they were words for a specific moment in the life of the young boy.  Eli became aware that the Lord was seeking to say a Word to Samuel and Eli knew Samuel needed to be attentive.  Though the centuries these words have shaped a prayer prayed by many a soul who sought to hear what the Voice of God was saying. 

 

However, to think of these words as words for specific moments in our living is to lay aside an important aid in our spiritual life.  Instead of thinking of this prayer as useful only for the moment, think of it as a prayer useful for the journey.  We sometimes talk about making sure we smell the coffee or the roses as we go through life, but how much more valuable it is to live with an attitude which keeps us constantly aware that God is about to speak.  Imagine a day being lived on the edge, waiting and expecting for the Voice of God to be whispered in our inner being. 

 

Such an expectation would change everything and everyone around us.  Every single thing we saw would be seen as something which might possibly be used by God to speak a Word to us.  Every single person who stands alongside of us might suddenly become the Voice of God.  God is forever speaking.  Sometimes we know the Voice as it comes to us in the night as it did with Samuel.  Sometimes it is overpowering as it was with Saul on the Damascus Road.  And sometimes, the One who has no Voice speaks His Voice in the most common things of earth making them forever holy in our memory. 

Always Speaking

The truth is God does not depend on our spiritual positioning to speak to us.  Is it not possible that He is speaking much more than we are hearing?  Could it not be true that we are missing what is there for us to hear simply because we are not listening?  Samuel was certainly not listening for the Voice of God when he settled in for the night.  Neither was Moses figuring on hearing a sending Word from God when his curiosity led him to the burning bush.  As we turn the pages of the story we run into Jonah who had no interest in hearing what God had to say and Jeremiah really did not want to be repeating what God was saying to him.

 

Is it not possible that the world is full of the Voice of God, but no one is listening?  Could it be that we are one of those guilty of not listening to the Voice that is speaking, but not being heard?  Could it be we do not really want to hear? It is easy for us to relegate God's speaking to the pages of the written Word.  Of course, there are some readers of the Word who would even disagree with what seems to be so basic and obvious.  But, it seems more likely that the world is full of the holy and we are so busy we miss it.  Even as we can miss what a spouse or child is saying because we are involved in something important like watching television, or checking social media, or reading the paper, so can we miss out on the divine Voice that is speaking.

 

There is no question mark when it comes to God having a speaking part in this relationship He has ordained and initiated with each one of us.  The only question mark is in the area of our hearing and listening.  Whatever it is that is deemed so important as to keep us from hearing needs to looked at again as we consider what is important about our living.  Our soul seeks God, it longs for the Voice of the One who called it into being and to be too busy to hear is such a waste of the days He is giving.

Just a Word

When the boy Samuel finally got around to knowing that the One calling his name was the Voice of God, he really got an earful.  He had no desire to be privy to the information God revealed to him about what was ahead for the man in next room.  Another who got an earful when God spoke was Moses.  Moses may have gone to the see the burning bush out of curiosity, but God had a lot to say to him while his curiosity was being satisfied.  But, if we are thinking about those who got an earful from God, we surely have to remember the prophets.  What they heard could fill a book!

 

It is not likely to be this way for those of us who enter the silence as a way of positioning ourselves to hear the Voice of God.  I remember my initial forays into this spiritual discipline to be moments of hearing not volumes, but single words, or maybe two or three.  The first time I really prayed in such a way was in a moment when a woman came with a busted marriage and asked me to pray for her.  While I had my notions about how to pray, for some reason I ask God and waited for a few moments.  In the silence of waiting the word "peace" came from some place within my spirit.  I knew then and I know now I never would have simply prayed for peace had it not been for the guidance of the Spirit.

 

My experience tells me not to expect lengthy monologues when I am listening for the Voice of God.  Maybe others experience it differently, but when something is received which resonates in my spirit as a Word from the Holy Spirit, it is never much more than a word or two or three.  It has always seemed that listening means listening for whatever and however God chooses to speak to us.  To enter into that moment of silent listening with any other spirit seems only to be presumptuous.

A Deeper Silence

A part of learning to listen for the Voice of God involves learning how to create silence in our lives.  Not only is it important to create a silent place, but it is also necessary to learn how to stay in that place where the silence prevails.  Given our propensity for noise, it is something which takes some amount of practice for most of us.  When we manage to enter into the silence, it is at first so uncomfortable that all we want to do is look at the clock to see if we can justify movement back into the world full of sounds and noise.

 

Getting comfortable with the silence will enable us to be in it without being conscious that all the frenzied sounds are missing.  Comfortable means not really thinking about the fact that we are in a quiet place filled only with the silence.  Comfortable means that the silence being experienced is being experienced as something that feels more natural than abnormal.  The silence we seek is not just the absence of external sounds, but a silence that permeates the inner being where the sub-conscious part of us prevails.  It is also the place within where the Holy Spirit is making Himself known in our spirit.

 

It is in such silence that the Voice of God is often heard.  Often heard is the operative word because no matter what we do, or how we position ourselves, there are no guarantees.  The place we seek to be is the place where expectations are gone.  Nothing is required or demanded.  We are simply present, empty and open, eager to hear whatever it is that might come whether it be a Word from God, or simply a deeper silence.

The Unwanted Voice

When we start listening for the Voice of God, we should not be surprised that we hear a voice from within that we recognize as our own voice saying what we want to hear.  Neither should we be surprised at the voice of our culture breaking in telling us what we should think.  There is one other voice other than the Voice of God that we are likely to hear.  It was first heard by the Garden of Eden couple telling them they misunderstood what God really said and then later heard by Jesus in the wilderness as it told Him that any means justified a good and desired end. 

 

The voice of the evil one is still being heard today.  Whenever we begin to fine tune the ears of our spiritual being to hear the Voice of God, we can be sure he will try to interfere, deceive, and mislead us.  It would be a wonderful thing if there was some sign or verbal give-away which would let us know Satan is speaking, but too often his voice blends in so well with all the other voices, it is very difficult to identify.  Of course, those who do not buy into the reality of the evil one working against the goodness of God would laugh at those of us who affirm the reality of the voice of evil. 

 

If Satan would dare to under mind the purposes of the Son of God, none of us are beyond the possibility of hearing the tempter.  As we intentionally seek to put ourselves in a position to listen for the Voice of God, it is wise to pray for the spiritual discernment provided by the Holy Spirit.  Some battles we cannot win in our own strength.  The Apostle Paul reminds us to be armed for a battle that is not physical, but spiritual.   While caution is more than a wise thing, we still should proceed boldly with faith for the Word is too clear for us to reach any conclusion other than the one that tells us that God is still speaking to His people. 

The Listening Question

Most of us know about praying.  It is something we do.  But, it often seems that our praying is too much about us.  We spend all our time saying and doing what we want to do.  We may follow a formula that leads us to praise, confession, and intercession, but once we get to the end of how we pray, the "Amen" quickly follows.  We may think of praying as talking with God, but it could more appropriately be regarded as talking at God.  We talk.  He listens.  At least, we hope He is listening.  There is seldom, if any, time for Him to talk and us to listen.

 

Even though we pray with a great deal of faithfulness and even though we may pray for an extended amount of time, our prayers do not usually provide a time for us to listen.  Maybe we have no place for listening because we do not expect Him to be saying anything to us.  The boy Samuel came to a place of listening.  It was not a quick journey, but he finally got there and said, "Lord, speak for Your servant is listening."  (I Samuel 3:9)  As we seek to grow into a deeper prayer experience, we, too, need a place for listening to whatever it is that God might want to say to us.

How do we get there?  Perhaps, the first step is to take a moment and either pray the words of Samuel, or ask, "Lord, is there anything You want to say to me?"  While this may sound off the wall to some, it is a way of entering into a moment of expectant listening.  However, as we come to a moment of asking God to speak, we must also be willing to enter into a time of waiting that is both expectant and silent.  We cannot hear what God would say if we are constantly talking.  There must be a moment of intentionally listening for His Voice.  As we move into this time, we can expect it to feel uncomfortable, but then God really has no vested interest in making us comfortable. 

Listening For One Voice

One of the things I remember about my high school basketball coach was a word he taught us about listening.  Anyone who remembers a high school gym during a basketball game knows it is a very loud place.  Unlike a football field where sounds can get lost in the vast spaces, sounds in a gym have nowhere to go but out and up and back and around.  The place can be shaking with all the hollering voices.  Our coach said we were to tune out every voice except his.  While we were on the court, the only voice to which we should be listening was his voice. 

 

I do not think Coach realized he was teaching us an important word about listening for the Voice of God in our prayers.  But, it is true.  To hear the Voice we long to hear means being intentional about tuning out the other noises and voices so that we are listening for only one voice.  It is not an easy thing for us to do because there is so much noise, so many voices, and so much confusion around us.  There are so many things that either demand our listening energy, or dulls it so that everything blends into one big smudge of a sound.

 

Even as this describes how it is in the world around us, so does it describe the world within us.  We may say along with Samuel, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening."  (I Samuel 3:9), but it is never quite that easy.  Entering into a still quietness where His Voice can be heard midst the idle chatter and unending noise sounding within our heart requires more than a word.  It requires effort and desire and a willingness to work at it and fail and work at it and fail until we finally learn how to enter into that place where the Voice can be heard.  Not only do we have to finally learn how to enter into that place of stillness, but we also have to learn to trust the Holy Spirit to take us into that place for we can never really arrive there alone.

The Many Voices

When the boy Samuel heard the Voice calling his name in the dark, he had no idea it was the Voice that belonged to the Lord.  After all, he was just a boy.  Boys are not experienced in such things.  Secondly, though a boy, he did a very adult thing.  He jumped to the conclusion that it had to  be Eli calling him.   After all, no other explanation made any sense. It never really occurred to him that it was the Lord speaking.  He simply had no expectation that such a thing would or, even, could happen.

 

With all this being true, the boy Samuel still had an advantage most of us do not have as we deal with the Voice of the Lord speaking to us.  His advantage was in the man in the next room.  After the third time Samuel came to him, Eli said, "Go, lie down; and if He (the Lord) calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' "  (I Samuel 3:9)  What gave Samuel an edge most of never have was someone telling him the Voice belonged to the Lord.

 

It is not always easy for us to discern that the Voice of the Lord is speaking to us.  Even after we decide that the Lord does still speak to folks like you and me and even after we start praying with an expectation that His voice can be heard, it can still be a difficult and confusing moment.  What makes it so difficult is the reality of the many voices we might hear.  The voice we hear may be our own voice speaking the word we want to hear.  Or, it may be voice that speaks the opinion of a trusted friend.  It could even be a voice which speaks to what our culture around us wants us to hear.  Not only do we have to learn discernment, but we also have to learn to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us in into this new spiritual discipline of listening. 

Listening Without Expectations

When the boy Samuel was hearing a Voice in the night, he got some good counsel from his older mentor who was sleeping in the next room.  "Go, lie down; and if He calls you, you shall say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."  (I Samuel 3:9)  Samuel took Eli at his word, but this time as he went back into the darkness, he was surely "all ears."  No doubt every part of him, every one of his senses, was listening with an intensity never before known.  His ears and his heart were turned up so high, he likely heard divine breath being drawn to speak the Words.

 

It is a good prayer for any of us who are entering into a place in our spiritual life where we hunger and thirst to hear a Word from God.  The kind of listening being practiced by Samuel was not only an intense kind of listening, but it was also a listening without expectations.  Since this was the first time he had been in this kind of situation, he did not know what to expect.  The guidance of Samuel did not shape expectations, it only pointed to an experience of listening for whatever it was that the Lord might be about to say.

 

For those of us who must be in control, who have a hard time letting go and going with whatever, it is hard to just listen with no expectations.  Too often we have figured out what we think God should say, or we have decided what we want to hear.  Both of these spirits exclude the kind of listening prescribed by Eli.  It does take some practice and in the beginning we are likely to confuse what is within our own need to hear with what God wants to speak to us.  And while in this case, practice may not make perfect, it does put us on the road to learning how to listen for the Voice which still speaks to those who have ears to hear. 

Learning to Listen

One of the great stories tucked away in the pages of the Old Testament is the story of young Samuel hearing God for the first time.  Three times the Lord called out to Samuel in the night and each time the young boy thought it was his spiritual mentor, Eli.  Finally, Eli told Samuel what to do when he heard the voice again, "Go, lie down; and if He calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening."  (I Samuel 3:9)  With the help of the old guy in the next room, Samuel was able to hear and know the voice of the Lord as it was spoken to him out of the darkness.

Most of us are like young Samuel when it comes to hearing the Voice of God.  While we have read the story of Samuel as well as other accounts in the Word that tell of God speaking to His servants, it really seems a bit far fetched to many that such could happen.  Maybe there is in us a sense of unworthiness, or maybe there is such a skeptical attitude that hearing the Voice of God seems impossible.  What is more than likely true for so many is that we do not have much practice in listening. 

Perhaps, the first step in listening has to do with expectations.  If we do not really expect to be in the room where God speaks, then we are not likely to hear anything but the noise around us.  Learning to listen requires expecting Him to be speaking.  No one can be as convincing or as believable as the witness of the Holy Spirit which is found in the pages of Scripture.  Anyone who truly seeks to enter into a walk where hearing the Voice of God is a possibility can have no better starting point than reading and studying the Word until there is no doubt that God does not simply stroll silently in heaven, but walks among us on the earth.
 

A Morning Voice

This morning was one of those perfect mornings.  There was a hint of the cool weather of Fall and the sun had not yet soared high enough to tell me differently.  I had settled into the work of cleaning up undergrowth around an old fallen barn.  It was easy to settle into the rhythm of the routine.  The air seemed quiet and peaceful.  And, then all of a sudden some crows set into loud fussing at the top of an old pecan tree.  Some Canadian geese took the moment to announce their arrival overhead.  By then I was listening and heard a host of birds talking to one another, two squirrels running around a nearby tree, and a log truck shifting gears a mile away as it sought to escape the bonds of the town's speed limit.

 

I almost laughed at how quickly the peaceful quiet became so full of noise.  And, then I heard it.  From somewhere deep within, there came this Word saying, "You are never alone."  It was not a conjured up word, or one that came out of my imagination.  It came so quickly out of my sub-conscious that I recognized its origin immediately.  It was a Voice without a voice.  Words were spoken without any sound. Some may say God never speaks anymore.  I am not one of them.  The manner in which I heard those Words within me this morning was not the first time such a thing has happened.  After a time, you learn to recognize the Voice that comes without any prelude of preparation. 

 

"You are never alone."  I am never really ready to hear the Voice, but there it was midst the morning routine.  Don't misunderstand.  I am not one special.  I have come to a place of believing and knowing that God does speak to us.  It is impossible to come to the conclusion that the Voice which sounded so clearly  to the men and women on the stage of the Sacred Word chooses to speak no more.  It is never a question of God speaking, but rather, one which has to do with our learning to listen and knowing Who is speaking. 

In the River

Life is hard to figure out.  I have often wondered why some die too soon.  Too young.  And I have also wondered why some live so long that they are left with little more than a shell of a physical body that longs for the coming of death.  And, then, there are such horrible things which are visited upon us with no rhyme, or reason, or warning.  Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, flooding, and tornadoes come leaving a wake of death and destruction.  Throw in some of the tragic injustices that happen to innocent people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and there is little which can be said except the fact that life is hard. 

 

As my old friend, Jayber Crow,  departs once again with the closing of the final pages of the book bearing his name, Wendell Berry, his creator, leaves us with a lingering word, "But faith is not necessarily, or not soon, a resting place.  Faith puts you out on a wide river in a little boat, in the fog, in the dark."  Maybe it is only partially true to say that life is hard.  Maybe it is just mostly true that  it is impossible to see the end.  One of the things the accumulating years seem to teach is that we live and die in the midst of what cannot be seen or even understood.  While life may teach us that it is hard, it also teaches us that we must live in the midst of the un-seeable, or not really live at all.

 

Jayber speaks truth as he sets forth an understanding of faith which has grown in him through the passing of his life.  At first glance faith may seem to be one of those benign spiritual words which echoes like a sweet spiritual platitude, but, instead, faith is a hard, demanding, and difficult way of life.  We do float in the current of this wide river with very little to take us into the dark uncertainties which lie ahead around the un-seeable bend in the river.  And so we go, knowing that the God of the river is with us and trusting Him to bring us to the river's end.