So much more meaningful

I remember reading an article a while back about a woman's exit from atheism and the fact that "beauty", as she put it, "interrupted her atheism." It interrupts mine as well and I find that what I find beautiful, the people and things that bring joy to my life and a smile to my face, are so much more meaningful because of my faith in the God of the Bible. I can't shake the fact that this beauty is a love song of sorts from God to me. He gives me glimpses and foretastes of the new heavens and new earth every time I close my eyes and let the 3rd movement of the New World Symphony wash over me, or when my wife lays her comfort down for her children and friends. What would ring in my heart if I were to experience these things apart from Him?

Having always been at least spiritual in my life (if not outright godly) I guess entering into the mind of those that are not oriented in this way is not attractive to me. Yet, I find myself shaken from my sleep at times when the Giver of all good things drops her warmth into my cold heart. It is almost as if He calls to me to ponder anew the gifts that he lavishes on me. And the gifts will not stop so my challenge seems to be to embrace them again when all Hell breaks loose.

Holiness in the midst of blessedness perhaps? Resisting my strength when I am tempted to use it? Refusing to curse God and die if it all comes unraveled? Or is ti resting in the fact that I have nothing apart from Him even now?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

tightvnc keyboard mapping problem in Ubuntu 9.04

Image
I have been, off and on, having an issue with the keys on my keyboard mapping to the correct values when using the tightvnc client when paired with the vncserver vino in Ubuntu 9.04. I am not exactly sure what keyboard layout the client and server was expecting, but it seemed like every time I restarted the OS the keyboard mapping problem would come back and I would be at square one again. Well, I think I have found the workaround I was looking for . Hopefully this will help anyone else that is having this issue.
Read more

The manifestation of the "I" and the gift of self - Part 1

I am continuing my journey through Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body and I had never realized how body-focused the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Genesis truly are.  But then it all makes so much more sense when it was brought to my attention that the body we have been given in a manifestation of me, or to put it another way, the "I". And it goes beyond that still. Not only does it reveal me, but my body also reveals, in no small measure, the image of God. That is not to say that God is made of flesh like me as is depicted in so many Renaissance paintings. The old man in the sky is nothing like the God as revealed in the Bible. However, the love that God is, the holiness that he is, the justice he is, the righteousness that he is...all of it is shown to the world through my body. In a very real way, my body allows for others, and for me, to participate in the mystery (the hiddenness) of the image of God. That is by design; from the beginning.  If God is revealed in nature...
Read more

Let me learn what I need to learn

In the “I don’t know what God is trying to produce in me…” portion of the blog: I work across (not with) an incredibly loud person. We are in cubes and he refuses to use a handset when he is in a conference call…or headphones. Everything is done via speaker phone. Maybe his handset is broken? I don’t know and am too timid (read “interested in keeping the peace”) to ask him. Of course he shouts into his speaker phone as well when he talks. Now he even refuses to use a keyboard. He has a speech recognition program that allows him to speak to the computer rather than type. Good for him! Now we can all hear “Comma…open parenthesis…close parenthesis…tab…tab...tab…” Was it my sin or my parents sin that relegated me to this placement in the office. We all know the answer to that but man…it sure feels like I am getting punished for something.
Read more