God And Silence

Yesterday? My first day off from blogging in ages. 

I kept hearing, "Take the day off. Relax." Still, it's sometimes a test to not forge ahead and make something up, even when I feel Grace is not helping me write. It's often a test when God is leading me to stillness while the world is saying, "Doing nothing is a big fat waste of time."

But then, so much of what the world says has become suspect with me. Too much of it is at polar opposites of the Bible.

Anyway, yesterday morning it was around 15 cold, but sunny degrees, yet Tom and I drove to our supermarket and had coffee while reading the newspaper. And there sitting in the shiny newness of our neighborhood store, I read something silly.

There is a Saturday column written by two 'people of the cloth.' They were asked by a mother if she should be concerned that her four-year-old talks to God a lot. The columnists said talking to God is perfectly wonderful, but the problems arise when people say they hear God speak back to them.

Ok, part of me understood their concern--their fear-- but the other part of me wanted to scream right there amongst the tables,coffee and other customers.

How sad to represent God before lonely people and to not have experienced verses like, "My sheep hear my voice," and "Come let us reason together," and "Those whom I love, I tell their faults," and even:
"But the Comforter...shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance," to name only four obvious ones.

Yet even with a verse like, "There is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother," well, how can you have a friendship if one of those friends never says anything?

I'm not one of those people who say, "God did all His speaking in the Bible. Period." To me, that's tragic. How sad to think that God said so many beautiful things in the Bible then forever closed His mouth, vowing not to speak within our hearing until we reach Heaven.

And yes, of course, many terrible things have been done in the world by people who swore, "God told me to do it." But if what 'God told them to do' contradicted the Bible, well, what they heard was something different. (And of course, people often disagree about what the Bible does say, but I'm not going there--not right now.)

No this is simpler. 

I'm just saying there are quiet places where God speaks when we listen (key word--listen). And ok, I'll say it-- He speaks to me. (I'll give you the address of those two columnists if you'd like them to come take me away to a padded cell.) ツ

But I cannot accuse God of not honoring true friendship. Friendship does take at least two,requires incredible communication and I've found there is no better Communicator, no better Friend anywhere.


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