How does God speak? Listen to this little scene, told by Jeremiah:
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
"Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message."
So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel..."
Then Jeremiah goes on to fill in the details of how God will shape the nation of Israel in His hands.
But the particular message to Israel isn't what intrigues me. It's how God spoke to Jeremiah. He told Jeremiah to head into town and go to the potter's house.
Weird. But very parable-like, don't you think?
"Hey Jeremiah, you know the pottery place down on 4th and Main? Head down there this afternoon. I have something to say to you, and I need you to watch the potter for a while. I'll talk to you later."
God can speak to us through just about anything. We just have to listen with that kind of ears, and see with that kind of eyes.
Watch the hands of the potter. Listen to the song of the meadow lark. See the rain fall from heaven. Let your eyes rise with the smoke from a fire. Let Him speak to you through those things. He is to be found, everywhere we look.
He continues to speak.
Speak to us Father; we are listening.
In fact, how way we read this passage sets the tone for how we read the entire book.
ReplyDeleteRead it like a lesson book, and you will feel like a lump of clay that God is working over, as if you're formless and inadequate.
In this academic way of reading, where right thinking should lead to right behavior (it doesn't, by the way), God speaks to us through something He already said to someone else, that He thoughtfully recorded so we could learn the same lesson.
Read it like a story, and you experience first hand how God spoke to Jeremiah. It's this simple:
God prompted Jeremiah to walk to the village and stop at the potter's place. As Jeremiah watched the potter work on some clay, certain things about God became clear to him.
Now, my mythic friends, you get to go on your own walk with God and listen to Him say whatever He wants to you.
You get to commune with Him in this great big garden called earth, just like Jeremiah did.
This is good stuff.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of Philip in Acts 8. I'm fascinated by this story.
First an angel tells Philip to get on a certain road to head toward a town.
Then once he's on that road, the Holy Spirit tells him to go stand over by a chariot and hang out there.
The rest of this story is cool, including the cool part at the end where Philip is beam-me-up-Scotty'd twenty miles away.
The angel/Spirit part of this story has fascinated me for over a year. Not in a dissection/explanation way, but simply in the mystery that it was an angel and then the Holy Ghost that spoke to Philip.
The happenings of hearing the Holy Ghost, communing with angels, learning the personalities of spirit beings, seeing Jesus in disguise and about to call Him out but He knows this and vanishes around a corner...
who needs Harry Potter and other move effects when our Dad offers so much more? heh heh
I'm with you. So much of life is completely unexplainable without recognizing the (usually) quiet intervention of God.
ReplyDeleteCoincidences, urges, reminders, promptings, dread, anticipation, inklings. More importantly, desires and fears.
The list goes on and on.
I'd love to be 'beamed up' sometime. When someone embraces the mystery of it all, anything can happen. Even if they don't embrace it, if they simply allow mystery (deep inside say, "I don't really know. And it's ok with me!"), then they will begin to see the movements of God. They will begin to see the story unfold around them.
They may even begin to enjoy their part in the grand story.
Faith gives substance to the things we hope for. It's as good as evidence for the things unseen.
This faith thing is the 'sight' I keep talking about. Child-like wonder, gullibility, hopefulness, leadability, excitement, desire.
Shoot. Walking with God is so much more than just forgiveness. Our lives play out like a book of the bible, don't they? Some lead, some follow, some wander, some run away, some are rescued. Some leave a trail of destruction, some heal the wounded. Some climb mountains, some cast them into the sea.
One day my six-year old daughter said, "When I get to heaven, I'm gonna be a bible character." "Which one?" I asked. "A new one!" she said.
That's what I'm talking about, my friends.
It's all happening--even the mountain into the sea part--in a realm that we western scientists have a difficult time opening ourselves up to.
I think this is the core of the message God has given me for the people in my world.
There is so much more here than meets the eye. Wonder about it all with me. And be happy without the answers.
Because the invisible world (the Mythic Realities) can't be seen (much less participated in) by trying harder to 'see' it. It takes imagination, wonder, a letting go of pure reason.
It takes being foolish, like a child.
It takes the brain following the heart.
At least for this generation living at this time, that's what it is.
I didn't physically feel the beaming, but check this:
ReplyDeletehttp://johnthree30.blogspot.com/2005/11/capernaum-2005.html
Dude, that's fascinating. Thanks for keeping your eyes open, and for the good campfire story.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. So much bigger than me that I'm just going to let it be.