Thursday, August 2, 2012

"Come, Let's be Intimate..."

     I must admit that I have a greater "understanding" of the nature of God than how the internet works, the power of computer code or how massive amounts of data can be stored on a tiny chip.
     I suggest that this phenomenon relates to my personal EXPERIENCE  with these "events".  I've used the internet and have saved photo albums on tiny plug-in chips, but I don't have any actual experience writing code, building mother boards or seaching the innards of a mainframe server.  Of such matter - I don't have a clue!   But I have had a long and deeply involved experience in relationship with God.  In fact, I can say that God has allowed me to experience significant levels of INTIMACY with the Divine Being:  times when God has revealed much of the Divine purpose and character.  All of this is existential; it's all through my life experience with the Divine.  This is how God chooses to reveal God-self.  It is a process of living-experience, reflection and communication.  And this wonderful, intimate relationship is absolutely initiated by God. I can't demand that God self-reveal and become intimate with me, but God wishes to do that very thing!  In fact, that is key to God's purpose in creating me...creating you and all of this universe.  From the first step of creation, God has always chosen to be in relationship - in intimate, caring closeness - with all of humanity.  My only possible choice in this matter is to take  time to become aware of this "God choice", to hear God's invitation, and enter into this intimate realtionship.
     For such an intimate relationship to exist,  both must walk-life-together in bare honesty and revelation of self.  God can be counted-on to "do" God's part in this revelation; I must struggle each day to bare my full humanity, emotions, needs, desires, strengths and weaknesses into that self revelation with the Divine.  And as I continue this journey into ever-greater intimacy with God, I wish to respond to this awesome Divine disclosure by making my life choices, desires and action SIMILAR to those which characterize the God with whom I intimately live.  Maybe you now recognize why humanity often chooses to perceive that the Absolute Divine Being exists "out there somewhere", "the ole man up there" while "I'm down here".  This is nothing but a human attempt to create DISTANCE between itself and God.  It's an attempt to ignore the God-desire for intimacy with each of us.  Such "distancy talk" flies in the face of God's plan for the creation.
     This experience of "getting to know God", this intimate realtionship of the Divine Creator with each person was made POSSIBLE when God breathed the spark of divine communion into the lives of those early homo sapiens creating the "spiritual bridge" between us and the Creator:  later it was made TANGIBLE when Jesus spoke the words..."Come, follow me".  (1)      When God's Spirit whispers those words into my ear...into your ear, it is God's INVITATION for each of us to enter this relationship of intimacy with our Creator  and to walk day-by-day with God...growing, loving and giving thanks for those blessed words of invitation.  But we can choose to distance or limit the intimacy of this relationship by sticking our fingers into our ears and becoming deaf to God's call, or by filtering downward the sound by the drone of our "busy life".  However, we can choose to live with our ears  and eyes widely open to that Divine call to .."Come, walk with me...live your life fully in my intimate embrace".   The choice is personal and unavoidable.  God invites each of us to "Come and let's live in an intimate realtionship!"
(1) Matthew 4:19   (A tiny, yet powerful Gospel verse upon which to meditate... reflecting on what it would say to all of your life, time, hopes and desires.)
    

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