Two CDs came in the mail, fresh from Amazon’s distribution center. Listening to the actual music is always varies from the sample you heard on the net; the quality is obviously better, yet it is the lyrics and music heard in their complete package that transcends the clip into something that is familiar yet distinctly different. I listened to the first one and found myself going “it is ok” but disappointment had already latched itself to my response.
In contrast, I wandered through Tim Hughes’ album with a different sense of what I was experiencing. When I heard the third track, even as the first few lines of the song played, I knew I was praying, singing, and crying to God. The lyrics captured my heart’s plea and I could sense God’s reply echoing through scripture, the world around me, and in response to my time waiting in contemplation. There Presence was fresh, crisp, and overwhelming.
There is a different between simple words in passing and thoughts of the heart. “Many words rush along like rivers in a flood; but deep wisdom flows up from artesian springs.” (Proverbs 18.4)
I am coming to believe that it is only God that can speak to our heart. When the Presence links us to God – directly, through words, via other people, or in our experience with nature – we know that we are being refreshed by pure artesian water. Everything is different. Taste, perception, experience, anticipation, and memory all respond to what is happening.
Too often I find myself falling into one of two traps. I assume that anything wearing the label of God actually represents the real thing; testing, validating, and being wise is required at all times and circumstances. I also find myself limiting the channels that God can use. People, even those who do not realize they are in contact with God, can be sources of inspiration, correction, and hope. Life and the world around us is teaching, if I am willing to learn.
God is reaching out to you and me. Being caught is our choice.
