The Voice of God

Imagine that you were born blind and quadriplegic, unable to move, unable to see, or feel with your skin, or taste with your tongue. All you had to physically offer this world was your voice, and all you could take in came in through your ears.

Now imagine there was another person in the same condition in another state, and that the doctors put earphones on your head and a microphone by your mouth, so that all day long you could speak directly to each other, freely, constantly.

You would only be a voice to one another. You could never see the other person, or touch them, or watch them move, but they would be a constant companion.

Could you fall in love with that person? Could you marry him or her? Could you live a fulfilled and enriched life with only the voice of another? Could they make you feel loved? Could you freely express love for them?

What part of you would "reach out" to your companion? What part of them would come to be part of you?

Your WORD. That combination of language and meaning, words and intent, that makes up that which proceeds from me to you.

The essence and purest expression of YOU. It's like the things you say ARE you.

If we can see this for how simple it is, we will understand the "heart", because the heart is where our words come from, and it is where they land in another.

People can look at you, watch you, even touch you, but until they hear you speak, they don't really know you. On the other hand, if your words were all they had to go on, with no other inputs or information, they could know and love you deeply.

Imagine that you and your companion have fallen deeply in love, and you have been committed to one another for many years. Now imagine that your voice-only companion was suddenly restored. That after all these years of this intimate communion with one another, your soul-mate was able to move about freely, to choose where to go and what to do. That she could come to you, be in the room with you, sit with you, see all of you, see things about you that you yourself have never seen.

Imagine that her commitment to you did not diminish with her new wholeness, but that her wholeness simply enabled her to express her love for you in so many more ways, beyond just the spoken words of her heart. She could tend to your physical body, feed you, clothe you, wash you.

She would have so many more ways to communicate, to express herself. Many of those ways would go unappreciated by you, since you cannot feel her hands upon your back and arms, cannot see the way she has decorated the room around you. You cannot see her sitting in the park, inspired by the beauty of creation, writing a love poem for you. You have no comprehension of this, because you have never sat in a park, nor written a poem with your hands on a sheet of paper.

But she still loves you, in so many ways. In more ways than she can help you understand, in your condition of limited senses. And she knows that the voice alone is not enough.

Now imagine that she is given the power to begin to heal you...

Friends, this is where we find ourselves today.

Loved, but not in perfect communion.

Partially, but not completely, restored.

Underwhelmed with what we "hear" from God. Wishing there was more.

We feel incomplete, like some parts of us don't work. We are insensible of so much of His activity, unable to hear Him clearly, and we wonder whether He is actually as 'nearby' as others have claimed.

But He continues to love, and He knows what kind of love we can receive. The trouble isn't with His ability or desire to communicate; the trouble is with our limited sensibilities.

[This is made worse because of the constant messages we receive that tell us we should be better than we are already. That we are not enough. Stand against that, my friends. We cannot heal ourselves.]

Let God heal your spiritual body and its senses in whatever fashion and order He chooses. Not everyone can hear, or see, or feel, or taste and smell. But all of those whom He has chosen have some of those senses at least partially restored.

In my case, it was light that first penetrated my eyelids and broke through the scales that were over my eyes. It hurt quite a bit, because much of what I had thought was reality turned out to be false.

[There are some who are horrified at what they have been allowed to see, to the point of being nauseated. All I can say is, ask Him to show you more-there's glory to be seen here.]

I talk to God about the stuff I see, and He answers back by showing me more. It's uncanny, unearthly, and I ain't making this up. Just don't ask me to prove it.

Here's the cool thing. Lately, I have been having these sensations that are a remarkably like what I have always imagined "hearing" to be like. It's more like a wind passing by my ears, vibrating my eardrums, not yet coming to me in clearly articulated syllables.

It's a wind that requires faith to believe that it's even happening. I can't duplicate it, I can't teach it, I can't even really remember what it's like when it happens. It's mysterious, barely audible at times, and only happens in the stillness of my deepest heart, the place where stories come to live inside me when someone tells them to me, the place that is reached when I feel compassion or rage.

But it's so gentle and patient. Sometimes it's as quiet as my own deepest desires.

No, we are not all able to hear, we are not all able to see, or to feel, or to taste, or to smell. But if you care about what I write here, if these stories and words reach into your heart, if you can "see" what can't be looked at, if your ear drums vibrate from time to time, if you can "taste" the glory of God in His handiwork, if you are "touched" by the pain of the poor and forgotten, then I believe your own restoration is also underway.

Talk to Him about it, and wait in expectation for the restoration of your heart and all its senses.

Any sensation at all gives us hope that one day we will be able to drink in the love and word of the Father in all of our senses. Then we will have the deep communion and one-ness that we were meant to experience all along.

One day, we'll sing something like this:

You fill up my senses
Like a night in a forest,
Like the mountains in springtime,
Like a walk in the rain,

Like a storm in the desert,
Like a sleepy blue ocean.
You fill up my senses,
Come fill me again.

--John Denver, Annie's Song

Until we are fully restored and living in the deep communion that fully sensible people can have, we’ve got to make due with what has been healed in us so far.

For some, it's sight. We share our visions and tell our stories here and around the campfires at night.

For some, it's touch. You guys are moved with compassion or desire in ways that blow my mind.

For some it's the sensuous tastes and aromas of this delectable world we’re in. Write your poems, sing your songs, dance for joy. We need you to overflow.

For some it's hearing. Some might be in nearly constant communication with God, even two-way. Please, let us know what He's saying. I have a feeling He isn't quite done narrating the story yet.

Whatever is stirred in you, it's that long-time companion, the first-fruits of those who will be resurrected, working to slowly and lovingly restore you. Be patient. Enjoy the sensations that you can't really make sense of. You might be the next one to say, "I heard something today that I can't really explain."

Builder or Maintainer?

Before you beat yourself up for feeling like moving on in your career every couple years, take stock of whether you are a 'builder' or a 'maintainer'. By that I mean, some guys like to sit in the planning room, some just want to be called in once the thing's been built.

There are strategic thinkers, builders, tearer-downers, problem solvers, and guys who just run the machines.

Those are all Godly characteristics. We gotta know ourselves in this way, or we're open to all sorts of accusation from the darkness.

I used to work at a company that owned a vacuum cleaner manufacturer. I heard about a problem that they had with consumers who would buy a vacuum in a box, take it home, get frustrated trying to put it together, and would end up returning the whole thing. A huge percent of units were returned. Anyway, I really wanted to create a task force that would tackle that problem and solve it. It would have saved the company millions of dollars. Capture the data, analyze it, form a strategy, get a budget, and go after it.

The last thing I wanted was to be handed a department to 'run'. That would have bored me to death.

I'm good for about three years at a job, and at that point, I've just about built whatever system needs to be built. Then it's time to move on to build something else.

One of my favorite John Eldredge quotes is "desire reveals design." It's true in so many ways. We humans are designed with certain leanings, and if we cannot live according to them, we are just not right.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, at least give it a chance that part of the urge to "run" might actually be the frontier calling, and your heart naturally longs to go.

Ever notice how your heart is usually a few months ahead of your brain in these matters? God is a mysterious guy, ain't He? He just might be having a quiet chat with your heart, while you're brain's busy getting ready for that stupid annual review.

Song of Deborah

A friend of mine sent me this song, written by his mentally challenged friend, Deborah.

Life is To Short

Life is to short to lost time. Life is to short to lost time. Losting time to learning about things. Life is here. Life is there. Life is now.

Life is learning about you. Learning about are glory. Learning about are savior. Learning about are lord. Learning about are god.

Oh mighty one, oh mighty lord. You died and rise again. You take are sin away.

We keep on learning about you. Life is here. Life is there. Life is now. Life is to short. But Life is now.

Scripture as Narrative

Two snippets from two different "Statements of Faith". The first is from an unnamed Bible Church that has a website. You can find this kind of wording everywhere:

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES -- We believe the Holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16,17; 2 Pet 1:20,21; Matt 5:18; John 16:12,13).

This is the common teaching in many, many churches and institutions today. "Obedience" is the ONLY WAY to relate to a book like that, and the organized church has been using this approach for years.

Here's a snippet from the statement of faith of Mars Hill Bible Church:

Mars Hill is devoted to joining the God of the oppressed in the restoration of all creation.

We believe the Bible to be the voices of many who have come before us, inspired by God to continue to speak to us today. God calls us to immerse ourselves in this authoritative narrative and to continue to faithfully live out that story today as we are led by the Spirit.

The difference between the two is subtle but incredible. In the second, you read the stories, let the light of them shine into your heart, and seek the voice of the Father for clarity to walk through today.

And you wonder, "Where is it all going?"

There was an age when He simply allowed the written Law to dictate what to do when people fail one another and sin. That era is over. Those who subscribe to the first statement above would have us believe that it still works that way, that "God has spoken" and now we simply abide by it or pay the consequences.

Well, He doesn't work that way anymore. This is the New Covenant, my friends. He spoke a new Word, and that Word is alive, He shows up in our lives in a thousand different ways a day, and He guides us through crap.

The specific action (murder, divorce, adultery, hatred, etc.) isn't the issue any more.

What happens in the space between us IS the issue.

Is God happy with the breaking up of a marriage? No. Does He condemn the divorced ones simply for divorcing? No. He cares deeply about the restoration of their hearts and souls with Himself. I believe God frequently thwarts or kills that which we believe makes us feel righteous, things like having a happy family, no debt, perfect church attendance, never having committed adultery, never having had a homosexual thought, never having divorced.

Let the story of your life play out, including your failures. Confess, then let God intervene as He wishes. It's not up to you to maintain your purity. It's up to you to walk with God.

In a narrative view of life and the scriptures, you wonder what will happen next, and always join God in desperately seeking restoration and restored communion with God and fellowship with each other.

The Trail of Life

My heart sees the world as a giant parable. Today, let's consider life as a journey.

We are each at a different point on our journey along this trail. If that's the case, then we shouldn't be surprised when we meet people who aren't standing at exactly the same place as us, or who are simply crossing the trail that we are on. No one is far out in front--we are all at varying stages even within ourselves. We are in motion. We are MOVED ALONG, by God--through the events of life, words from a friend, the sunsets, the stories of scripture, the gentle guidance of the Spirit, and the living Word--Jesus. God uses the most extraordinary things to move us along and shape us.

But all the time, He is inviting us to continue moving on the trail. To play our part in the story.

There are two particular trail-markers that we all seem to pass in the same order, however. The first trail marker says "OBEDIENCE," and the second says "FREEDOM." For some people, there are miles and miles of trail between. But I have seen some pass the first and come in sight of the second in only days.

God teaches us about this "spiritual path" in the very way that we start out as children and grow up to become adults.

Little children need to grow up with a healthy dose of Obedience, so they are basically subjected to absolute LAW--they have to learn what it is to submit, what penalties are, why it matters. It's a way of "artificially" teaching them morals. I say "artificially" because it's from the OUTSIDE-IN. The trouble is, all of mom's scoldings don't really make little Johnny into a good boy. Children start under Law (an objective, external standard), but little by little they are granted FREEDOM. They don't take it, they don't earn it. They are given it. It is this freedom that changes them from the inside out. Think about it.

If you were 25 and your mother still had to tell you how to behave, wouldn't that be ridiculous? No, somewhere in between ten and twenty, we are given the chance to make decisions. We are trusted to act on our own, and we are given the freedom to blow it. In an ideal world, young adults will have moved from LAW to FREEDOM in a graceful way, not in a tortured way. Sometimes it really is a painful walk, and we may stumble as we try to get away from mom's grip. Generally speaking, the sooner the parent trusts the child, the sooner the child begins to be changed inside. (That's all the wisdom you will get from me on parenting.) All the laws of the earlier years are just echoes in the ears. Living well gradually becomes automatic, a habit (with occasional screw ups, of course), our identity.

Our life as a child of God plays out in the same way. Those who have lived under the condemnation of the "commands" of the law are invited by Jesus to enter into His Freedom, accept His light yoke, and live as He did. He chose us, and He calls us Brothers. The most critical question in the WHOLE THING is this:

How can He trust us to be good?

And the answer is a sweet deal, the peak in the trail—after this, it's all downhill:

Because it was HIS work that made us good.

It was none of our doing, so, He either did a good job, or He failed in transforming us on the inside. HE changed us, and now He trusts us to listen to Him, abide in Him, walk with Him, follow Him, and fight with Him. Given the effectiveness of what Jesus did, and that it was ALL HIS DOING, what need do we have then for a new body of "commands" (what we have collectively called the Bible, or the New Testament), something to take the place of the OT Law? Wouldn't it place some of the burden for our safety on the journey back on our shoulders?

As Jesus' brothers, we are growing up because He trusts us to live in His life here on earth. And His life sometimes looks really irrational. We are the ones who "hear His voice." We do the odd stuff like the people in Hebrews 11. Jesus is on the throne, and He is reigning from there, and the Spirit is like the whisper of His wishes in our ears. He shares His strength and His authority with us, and we go push back the powers of darkness. We've been forgiven, and there is no more condemnation left to be handed out. Only a kingdom to advance.

What do we do with the collection of writings, then? That's the cool part. The scripture then becomes a story book. It’s like a time capsule, sitting beside the path, written by the hands of those who have walked this way before with God.

It's not (and never was) a science book, or a manual for Christian living. It certainly isn't a list of commands that we are to obey. That's western thinking, gone awry. Scientific, cause-and-effect thinking. We've read this phrase "the Word of God" and we equate it with the collective writings. Again, that's scientific. That isn't faith. Science books are either black or white. Stories come in black, white, grey, and all sorts of colors.

II Timothy 3:16 is a WORD PICTURE. God breathed, and men wrote their stories. That's not a scientific explanation, and it isn't the foundation for "authority of the scriptures." Unfortunately, our theological books have taken a scientific approach to explaining the scriptures. It's incredible, too large to comprehend without your imagination.

Ours is not a culture with many oral traditions--we love our books, and we trust our scientists. Unfortunately, we have lost our appreciation for what the spoken "word" can mean in a person, in a family, in a people. Look at the number of times Jehovah told the Israelites, "Tell your children and your grandchildren all the things that I have done for you here in Egypt." Jesus is that kind of message to the world--"Look at what I have done for you! He's right here, at my right hand!"

Friends, we need to tell each other our stories. There is healing there, and strength. And hope that I can make it another mile on this journey.

Instead, we've been trained by a thousand preachers that "the Word" is the bible. Actually, no it's not. The bible is a bunch of stories, poems, historical narratives, and letters--cumulatively, they represent a portion of all that God has revealed to us. A few examples of what it's like when God shows up and intervenes.

But only a few.

Back to the trail--every man and every woman needs to be close to those stories and letters in order to know what it is like to live as a believer. That is normal. We begin the walk closer to the Obedience trail marker than the Freedom marker. We need to be shown "how to live" for a time.

But, like Paul says, we should be growing as the miles go by. The invitation of the New Covenant is this: walk with Jesus. Hear His voice. Live in freedom. It might only sound like a voice calling from the path, far ahead, in the fog. Those who have gone ahead and tasted this freedom, don't shout back at the people who are still reading the time capsule that is near the Obedience marker.

Tell them that freedom is up ahead. It's just up over that ridge, and you can see it from where you stand.

Mythic Willy Wonka

Just for the stimulation of your mythic nerve...quotes from the great movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. (All quotes are by Willy Wonka, unless otherwise noted)

There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be.

If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it.

Sam Beauregarde: What is this, Wonka, some sort of funhouse?
Willy Wonka: Why? Having fun?

*We* are the music makers... and *we* are the dreamers of dreams.

So shines a good deed in a weary world.

A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.

No other factory in the world mixes its chocolate by waterfall. But it's the only way if you want it just... right.

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere, and not a drop to drink... yet.

If the good Lord had intended us to walk he wouldn't have invented roller-skates.

So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.

Willy Wonka: We're there.
Mrs. Teevee: Where?
Willy Wonka: Here.

Mrs. Gloop: My son! He'll be made into marshmallows in five seconds.
Willy Wonka: Impossible, my dear lady. That's absurd. Unthinkable.
Mrs. Gloop: Why?
Willy Wonka: Because that pipe doesn't go to the marshmallow room. It goes to the fudge room.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Charlie Bucket: Mr. Wonka, they won't really be burned in the furnace, will they?
Willy Wonka: Well, I think that furnace is only lit every other day, so they have a good sporting chance, haven't they?

Sam Beauregarde: Come on, Violet. We're getting out of here.
Willy Wonka: Oh, you can't get out backwards. You've got to go forwards to go back, better press on.

I don't understand this. The children are dissappearing like rabbits. Well, at least we still have each other. Let's move along.

Who's going to watch over my factory and take care of the Oompa Loompas for me after I pass on? Not a grown-up. A grown-up would want to do things his own way. That's why I wanted a child. A kind and caring small boy.

Grandpa Joe: But the roof is made of glass. It'll shatter into a thousand pieces. We'll be cut to ribbons.
Willy Wonka: Probably.

No, no, don't speak. For some moments in life there are no words.

Mrs. Teevee: I assume there's an accident indemnity clause.
Willy Wonka: Never between friends.

'Round the world and home again, that's the sailor's way.

Willy Wonka: How do you like my factory, Charlie?
Charlie Bucket: It's the most amazing place in the whole world!
Willy Wonka: I'm very glad to hear that. Because I'm giving it to you.

Questions, Questions, Questions

you should never, never doubt what nobody is sure about.
--Willy Wonka

If you've been following this blog, you know that I love to wonder about things. So here's your invitation to wonder out loud with me. Post a question -- I promise, no answers from me. I'm not the coin-operated genie dispensing "Yes" and "No" answers.

Answers are so much more boring than the questions, don't you think?

So you are invited to drop questions here in the Q-Box, and I'll do the same. Let's wander and wonder together, my friends.