HERE AND NOW: THE VIEW FROM THE POOLSIDE

I need to round off this series so that I can get on to blogging about the stuff we want to reflect on in the Autumn. 

I did say that I was hoping it would be easier to be more awake to God's presence on holiday than in the normal run of life.  No dice, it seems.  (Sorry about the view from between my feet by the way buts that where I was laying thinking about it, with my ipod playing and a coffee easily to hand).  Somehow, for me, it seems that the ordinary routine of life is the better place for being aware of the presence of Jesus.  That's not to say that I'm seeing any significant process.  On the basis that knowing God's closeness is different from praying, worshipping or even thinking about him, I am still a practical atheist.  Most of my days do not happen with a clear awareness of Jesus beside me but its easier being back doing normal things.

That's not to say that it seems unimportant.  I've had a few texts about whats happening with our Teen Spirit guys at Soul Survivor.  It certainly sounds as though some of them have had opportunity of being more aware of God than ever before.  That's great.  But somehow we have to learn from one another how to have that same wakefulness every day.  Otherwise these guys will be back at school and the encounters of the summer will get so far away that they will seem like a dream.  And unless Jesus is closer than their best friend...

So do keep poking me about this.  It really matters.  I sort of hope that it creeps back into all our conversations so that we help one another with GOOD PRACTICE FOR GOD AWARENESS

Here and Now - More than Praying

kNOWING GOD IS REAL

11.30 last night.  Wendy was sitting on the edge of the bed texting about work so it was no good trying to get to sleep.  So I went to download Katie Melua's latest album--v.interesting, much more edgy since she has changed collaborators.  Still I digress.

While waiting I was flicking throught the pile of books on my desk--all holiday reading possibles.  Anyway  I opened Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller.  You may need to listen to our session on 18 July before the quote makes sense.

The goofy thing about Christian faith is that you believe it and you dont believe it at the same time.  It isn't unlike having an imaginary friend.  I believe in in Jesus;  I believe he is the son of God, but every time I sit down to explain this to somebody I feel like a palm reader, like somebody who works at a circus or a kid who is always making things up or somebody at a Star Trek conference who hasn't figured out that the show isn't real.

 

Until.

 

When one of my friends becomes a Christian, which happens about once every ten years because I am such a sheep about sharing my faith, the experience is euphoric.  I see in their eyes the trueness of the story.

 

I do think that ability to see how the story often appears to people who havent met Jesus makes Miller such a brilliant writer.  I also am coming round to the view that knowing that God is real is a sort of basic entry requirement for being aware of the closeness of Jesus.

I know it seems obvious if you put it like that but I wonder whether we need to spell it out particularly when there is so much out there that makes stuff the only reality. 

So here's the starting question for the expedition.

Where do you look to see the reality of Jesus; into whose eyes, at what happenings?

 

I'm away in a couple of days but I'd really like to leave a post or two for anybody who wants to take this journey too.  I'm finding there are more setbacks than progress at the moment.

BTW by popular request, here's the Imagininary friends video we showed on the 18th.

hERE AND NOW: great summer reading

We're not the only people out there who are working at the idea of ordinary people increasing their awareness of God. 

John Burke writes:

One day while I was mowing the yard, [he means the grass, not the concrete] I began thanking God for the many ways I was experiencing more and more of this fulfilling way of living - staying moment by moment connected to God. I pastor a church comprised mostly of young adults, many of whom have tried most everything under the sun for finding the good life, yet still didn't find what they're looking for (as U2 memorialized in a song). As I prayed, "God, I wish you could get them to go for it long enough to see how good life is with you," a thought popped in my head: "Do an experiment - challenge them to an experiment to stay in continuous connection and radical responsiveness before God.

Go to this site and watch the videos to find out more.

Click on the book cover to find out where you can get it at an affordable price.

HERE AND NOW: LEVELS OF AWARENESS

• Jesus’s communication was finely tuned enough for him to be able to hear God’s voice. But that was not true of anybody else around
• The great majority thought they heard thunder. They were just aware of something that could be experienced in the material world.
•  The more spiritually aware, heard the noise and filled in the blanks. While they were pointing in the right direction—they knew there was something out there—they didn’t get the content. They thought an angel had spoken to him. That kind of thing when we have a little bit of knowledge and stretch it to explain everything that happens is called Jackass knowledge.
• Some, including John, actually heard the words.

• Firstly, even in a culture which was hugely more tuned in to spiritual phenomena, there were some people who didn’t get it at all. The sound was explained by physical events in the physical world.
• Secondly there were a group of people, who used the knowledge they had to fill in the blanks. They didn’t actually hear what was going on but they mad a spiritual experience out of it. I think that’s where most of us spiritual pilgrims exist most of the time. 
• The next, privileged, group, heard the words. This must have given them some advance indication of what it would be like to hear God with greater spiritual awareness after the Spirit came. At this point the Spirit had not taken over from Jesus physical presence.
• Only Jesus had a straight spiritual experience. He heard the message without the words.

OVER THE RAINBOW

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Jesus said: Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20 NRSV)

If that is true we have to treat claims to invite God’s presence with some caution though people may just be suggestion that we pay attention to him, though if God is here and we have to be told to pay attention to him then we are obviously missing something.  That’s a lot worse that my attempt to walk through the Duke of Edinburgh.  But that’s another story.

Yesterday morning we pushed on a bit to develop two more ideas:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->You show me the path of life.  In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

<!--[if !supportLists]-->David said to his son Solomon: If you seek him he will be found by you (1Chronicles 28:9)

<!--[if !supportLists]-->James says: Come close to God and he will come close to you (James 4:8)

WE MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR OURSELVES BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT DEVELOPED THE EYES OF OUR HEART WHICH ARE NECESSARY TO SEE SPIRIT RATHER THAN STUFF.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)

This inner awareness gets hinted at in lots of places

<!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. (Daniel 7:1)

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Paul prays that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18)

dEVELOPING A HABIT

As you know, It's frustrating to be a practical atheist, going for hours at a time without being aware God's closeness.  Some of that has to do with the fact that we live with this bad habit of only being aware of what forces itself on our consciousness. (I am forever finding coffee mugs in the microwave where I have forgotten all about them even though I am feeling thirsty)

Here's a blog post which outlines 29 ways to successfully ingrain a behaviour.  It particularly targets stopping smoking but still has loads of useful ideas.  And by the way, I have noticed its on the Zen Habits site.

ARE YOU AWAKE?

That's a question which is posed all the way through Greg Boyd's book, Present Perfect.  He's talking about being awake to God's presence and finds he needs so much reminding that he puts post-it notes with the question on all over the place--even in his sermon notes.

He writes:

aRE WE GOING 'NEW AGE'?

LIFTING UP PEOPLE