Sunday 13 February 2011
Humourous aren't you...
My partner has just read my blog entry and had to pause the music so she could read it whilst I made some porridge. Anyway she finished reading the blog and I turned the music back on and the very first thing I get is "This is the first day of the rest of your life"(repeated several times) from "Hold us Together" from Matt Maher from the middle of the song. Oh there really is some strange messaging going on here. The music was on random and she stopped the song just whereever it was and forgot to start it so I clicked play and got that.... This is weird.....
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Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI have been reading through some of your blog entries and would like to encourage you. I really enjoy your honesty and some of the things you write are really funny!
If I can make a seemingly simplistic observation on your story so far - You have asked God to speak or do something or show He is real and he has done that but not necessarily in the expected way.
You gain a new love for others, you lose the restlessness and receive a new peace. These are great things and the best thing from where I'm standing is that you did not do anything to make these happen! This is not "normal" in terms of the world around us - when we want to achieve something we need to work at learning things, changing things and often disciplining ourselves to do some things and to not do others. I find your experiences not only a sign of God's willingness to send messages to you. You can see it goes much deeper than that.
I hope this is useful. It's great to see your openness - I look forward to reading more of your story.
Dave
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your reply. I am grateful for the encouragement to keep this going. At times it has been very difficult to write, especially when I have been struggling.
I think that you are right, sometimes, you have to look at the simplistic solution. Yes I have asked God to do something and he responded in a way which was not expected but that is ok. As you'll see from the entry I am about to make it's ok what now....
My love for others and the loss of the restlessness are both wonderful things and you are right I didn't make them happen. I know that what is going on is not normal and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes next.
Everything people write is useful. It is interesting to see the way people perceive what I have done so far and all comments and feedback are gratefully received and read.
Take Care
Alex
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply and I'm glad you are receiving lots of feedback.
With reference to all your questions you may like to look up the words of U2's song Beautiful Day. (http://www.u2.com/discography/lyrics/lyric/song/22/) . I see it as a song about thinking with the heart. The Western World has largely adopted a Greek way of thinking - that is with the mind only. The Hebrew way of thinking involved both the heart and mind.
The song starts with the heart as a flower - something beautiful. It faces hard ground – strong opposition – but it shoots up (even) through this stony ground. The mind looks out and processes “reality” : no room, no space , out of luck, lost the reason to care. The mind perceives someone who is stuck in the details of life, the traffic, love and trying but not really able to get anywhere. The mind thinks Jesus has come to take us out of this difficult, stony place. The mind thinks we can “lend (God) a hand” (i.e. do the “right stuff so He’ll forgive us, favour us, take us to heaven) and so earn grace (which is by definition unmerited favour). However, there is no sign of this happening now – no change in our circumstances.
Suddenly the heart kicks in ( we’re thinking with our heart!) : “It’s a Beautiful Day!
How can this be? Our mind has just told us we’re stuck, disillusioned, disappointed!
“The sky falls” – a picture of the space shuttle roaring up through and beyond the earth’s atmosphere. We are rising to see perspective – with our hearts! “It’s a Beautiful Day! Don’t let it get away!
Oops! The mind brings us back to earth; on the road, no destination, in the mud, in a maze, our love is stuck. We’ve tried everything we can think of with our mind and all our human understanding and rationalisation has overwhelmed us, confused us, oppressed us.
BUT, the heart still beats on beneath the hum and static of the mind’s busy-ness. It says “It’s a Beautiful Day! Don’t let it get away!”
Suddenly our heart and mind think together and the cry from our mouth to God is
"Touch me! Take me to that other place. Teach me! I know I'm not a hopeless case."
Boom! Suddenly we are in space looking down on the earth. God has heard our cry; he has touched us. He has taken us to a place where we can see from His perspective. Our mind was stuck in a detail; down in the traffic. The heart has seen where we really are.
The description in the song is what can be seen and identified from space: the Great Wall of China, the Bedouin fires, the oilfields etc. This is huge perspective!
The song then talks about the great flood of Noah’s time and the rainbow (“all the colours came out”) after the flood which is God’s promise to us. This is where God has brought us from hopelessness to hope and security. We are not stuck, He has delivered us. The flood is over. His promise was given, we will not go back. He has made all things new. That is why the chorus says: “It’s a beautiful day don’t let it get away!”
What we don’t know with our mind, we can know with our heart (“What you don’t have you don’t need it now, what you don’t know you can feel it somehow”).
I found this quite helpful in releasing some of the questions which held me back.
Have a good day,
Dave