The Sound of God
I guess I had what you would call an epiphany. Whilst in Lethbridge over the weekend, escaping the pull of the life-sucking entity that is Edmonton, I took some intentional time (or rather times) for reflection. On Sunday night at Erika's parent's house I sat out on their porch in the midst of a great rainstorm. Using the time to meditate, and taking a page from Kallistos Ware's thoughts on prayer (via Erika) I entered into three levels of prayer, being vocal, mental, and silent.
As I entered into silence I concentrated on the sounds of the rain. Soft, muffled rain feeding the lawn. Crisp, rain slapping the leaves of trees on its way down. The flow of run-off down the spout laughing on its way. And as I sat there listenting I though, "This is the voice of the living God! This is my Creator speaking through His creation!" But that was not the epiphany. Just as God was not in the wind, earthquake, or fire before Ezekiel God was not in the power of this rain. Suddenly the cacophony ended and there was utter silence...and there was God. I know not how long this lasted, but it was brief. As Matt commented later the silence only lasts until you notice it's there. It was short, but it was pure God and I long for it again. I can not describe it nor share it save that it was as close to God as I have ever been.
I would encourage you to take time to listen for your Creator. It's not easy to quiet our minds enough to hear, but it's important and it's worth it. You may need to escape the city as I did, find a place more secluded and less choked out by concrete and smog; not to say that God can't be heard in the city, but it is harder. Listening as prayer is not easy. We want to ask questions and demand answers and when we don't get and imediate reply we ask louder or move on to something else or get annoyed and join a cult offering immediate gratification. God does speak, just don't wait for Him in the earthquake.
posted by Chuck @ 6:37 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I've found that it is very difficult to just sit down and try to listen. It takes a sequence of events - an entering in, if you will. Vocal prayer focuses your mind, mental prayer focuses your soul, and then there is silence.
Prayer is battle, and not just on the offensive either. We are attacked with apathy, distractions, and a host of other things. Jesus sweat blood as he prayed at Gethsemane.
Prayer is not easy.
I hear ya. The desire to sit in silence in our culture is so small. It is unacceptable to not be busy, even if it is just with your mind. And for those of us who don't enjoy being solitary as much as others, the battle is that much tougher.
BTW the cult offering has been moved to 7:30 tonight.
Sounds familar.
These are the words of Rich Mullins:
Well the moon moved past Nebraska
And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills
And angels danced on Jacob's stairs
Yeah, they danced on Jacob's stairs
There is this silence in the Badlands
And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled
By the whisper of a prayer
The whisper of a prayer
And the single hawk bursts into flight
And in the east the whole horizon is in flames
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name
I can feel the earth tremble
Beneath the rumbling of the buffalo hooves
And the fury in the pheasant's wings
And there's fury in a pheasant's wings
It tells me the Lord is in His temple
And there is still a faith that can make the mountains move
And a love that can make the heavens ring
And I've seen love make heaven ring
Where the sacred rivers meet
Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name
From the place where morning gathers
You can look sometimes forever 'til you see
What time may never know
What time may never know
How the Lord takes by its corners this old world
And shakes us forward and shakes us free
To run wild with the hope
To run wild with the hope
The hope that this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
And I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name
And I know this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And with the prairies I am calling out Your name
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