God is Life...

God is Life.

This could be the reason many have lost interest in God or should I say we have gained interest in so many things this life has to offer us. When life seems scarce and it does for many now—but always has for many more (i.e. the things we want are not readily available or to be had at all) a strange nervousness begins to pulse within and we begin frantically looking for some-thing to convince us we are alive. For the affluent among us (which I am too), this most often sets in as boredom and how many of us are bored right now in the midst of this pandemic, which has erased many of our life-defining activities (travel, entertainment, things, food, etc.). That these are problems not associated with the Gospel will be left to another who is more committed to Christ than I to explore.

In these times of lack it is easy to seek the things that have constituted our daily lives in new ways. We look for more ways to entertain ourselves. I do too. We look for other things to give us a clear sense of meaning in life. I do too. We look for opportunities to serve others for a deeper sense of significance. Anything will do that helps us to feel alive, to feel life within.

The trouble is in such moments of frantically searching for life all around us we miss the Unconditional Life within and that is unconditionally derived from God alone who is Life and that nothing—NOTHING—in the world can give to us. St. Augustine said it well in his Confessions:

“Late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And see, you were within, and I was in the external world and sought you there, and in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The lovely things kept me far from you, though if they did not have their existence in you they had no existence at all.”

How often is this the case for most of us? We spend most of our lives, living for so many things, thinking therein that we will know some significance, some meaning, a sense of life and the problem may just be that we find just enough significance, meaning and life that we miss The Life God is in, with and through us with others. But, lest we be discouraged, the things of this life as with all things will run out for they are all—including us—temporal. And, it is precisely in the God who is Life—Eternally—that in his persistence, we can be as assured as a prodigal, that when we come to the end of things, and hopefully ourselves, God will continue to call…shout…flash…shine…until we know his very presence breathing in us. Consider the closing part of St. Augustine’s quote above. He finishes by re-minding us of this eternally persistent God…

You called, and shouted and, burst my deafness. You flashed, shone, and scattered my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew my breath and now pant after you. I tasted you, and I feel hunger and thirst for you. You touched me, and I burned for Your Peace” (Confessions: Book X, Chapter XXVII, 38)

All God has to offer us is Life because that’s who God is. In this season of Lent, may we know God’s calling to us, shining all around us, literally breathing within us as we yet pant after the things of this life. And, then let us take that big deep breath—that God The Holy Spirit is—within and know ourselves alive—maybe for the firs time—maybe again—and worship the one true God and Jesus whom He has sent (c.f. John 17:3), who said, “I am The Way, The Truth and The Life.” (c.f. John 14:6).

May the song below help bring this blog to life, in your life, by worshipping The One who is Life…enjoy…

Prayer a Close Encounter

Prayer is a face to face encounter. I wonder if this is why prayer is becoming increasingly uncommon and even unpopular in our time?

Is that a presumption on my part? Even judgmental some might say? There is something special about being face to face with another. Lovers look in the eyes of each other. But, at the other end of the relational spectrum when we are afraid we do not want to look in each other’s faces. And, in those moments of hatred and anger—all too common these days— we say things like, I want to look them in the eyes and see them suffer. This is when the face to face encounter intended to give us an experience of God through one another is taken in vain—for our own purposes—and possibly borders on the human equivalent of being blasphemouse and we desecrate the common image of God that is uniquely reflected through each one of us. This saddens me greatly these days.

This is why I believe prayer is more important than ever. Prayer is a face to face close encounter with God, ourselves and all of humanity. Prayer is the place where we draw close to one another in Love. This always changes the way we see each other and always increases the respect (to look twice) we have for each other as a human being made in the image of God.

In the Book of Exodus, we hear, “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. (Exodus 33:11). The context for this comment was the Tent of Meeting. This is where Moses discovered the inspiration that comes with a face to face encounter. Sometimes this phrase is translated as tent, but can also be dwelling place, tabernacle, and even sanctuary. There is something inherently sacred—or supposed to be—about our face to face encounters. From the negative, consider the moments when you feel the most saddened or angry with others. We say things like, they acted like I wasn’t even in the room thus implying you did not feel valued or seen. Prayer is a face to face encounter with God that has an implication, according to Exodus 34:29, “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.”

In the Gospel of John we are told God became flesh and dwelt among us (c.f. 1:14). If we are going to have a face to face encounter with God where we come away with our faces shining it will most likely be through one another. Paul, a missionary, of the early church continues along the themes of these phrases (tent, tabernacle, sanctuary) saying, we are a temple of the Holy Spirit (c.f. 1 Cor. 6:19). Friends, we were made to know (experience in a bodily way with one another) a face to face encounter with God that makes all our relationships to shine with his glorious loving presence. This is where the healing, the deliverance, fresh courage is imparted to us and so much more when we can see the presence of God in our lives.

You can see now in the light of God’s presence why the dark ways we are relating to each other these days are heartbreaking and could easily make us want to turn our face away (stop praying and meeting each other face to face vulnerably). But, God does not turn his face away on the cross when our treatment of Him was unsightly. Therefore, let us ask God for a renewed passion to pray as a face to face encounter with Him and then trust our face will shine like the sun (as Moses) in the places we walk each day—inspiring others to pursue the God who longs to show us His face and the loving possibilities that remain for our face to face encounters with others.

Check out this song and ask God for the same passion to know a prayerful relationship with him as an everyday face to face close encounter: