Hearing God

Introduction

One tends to wonder at times how is it that someone can write, to tell the truth Gentle Reader, it’s a gift, a God given gift that we Irish have been more than thrice blest from a Thrice Holy God.?

?In this case I was inspired to write about how we hear or see or perceive God. For as anyone knows who has spent the better part of their life in searching Scriptures God appears in many forms and many ways to those who seek Him.?

Recently I was?privileged to observe the manifesting of His work front and center and privileged how He works all things together for good.?

I read much on the “Net” and two sister currently are having a “spirited” argument about “sin” the consequences, and the results of what happens to someone who falls short of God’s Glory. Which is by the way what the Scriptures call sin in its most honest form. And as those who know me well enough to understand I won’t lie to you or for you. Everyone falls short of God’s Holiness it make no difference whether you are aware of it or not. As the prophet Isaiah told us?In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 6:1-5)?

So when this dialogue took (and is still going on) place I found myself seeing an opportunity to share what God has shown me. From His perspective and perhaps have a wee teaching moment. I wrote the two sister in question and told them I would share with them my understanding and in hopes to bring to light how one can hear God in the cacophonous sounds of the twenty-first century.?

That Gentle reader is the reason and rational for this wee effort and Now I will give you the back drop of what led up to this adumbration.??

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Part One A month ago?

Dear Gentle Readers,?

I woke up with start today, Saturday at about 10:30 p.m. Marti was very still in her bed and at once I was afraid that somehow through the night I had lost her. Herself has taken to her bed once more and the frequency alarms me, though I don’t say anything to her except to be an encourager. She becomes more discouraged with each passing day, and I must admit that discouragement is contagious, similar to my Uncle Shaughnessy never passing a Pub that didn’t call for his inspection.?

I am supposed to be on sabbatical leave which comes from Late Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos. The word sabbatical comes from the shmita or Sabbath year in religious teachings. The Torah mandates that Jewish farmers work for six years and then take the seventh for rest, literally letting the fields, the beasts of burden, and people recuperate and appreciate the fruits of their labor. The Sabbath day — and secular weekend — continue this tradition of no work. The modern-day sabbatical is an extension of this. I believe that there are three types of sabbaticals: lateral, generative, and recuperative.

The lateral sabbatical follows a rich tradition of learning and exploration. It includes activities such as teaching, volunteering abroad, or working in an industry related to yours in order to gain new skills in a given area of expertise. These sabbaticals are usually financially supported by academic institutions or businesses (for longtime employees).

?A generative sabbatical — that year off work to travel, explore, draw, write a book, or otherwise indulge in creative pursuits — is perhaps the most idealized. It is forward-looking and optimistic: Your employer hopes to harness the new ideas and energy it creates upon your return to work.

?A?recuperative sabbatical is the most needed and the most practical. It is often unplanned and occurs only after the "sabbatee" reaches a breaking point — brought on by a chaotic workplace atmosphere of on-demand innovation, parallel work streams? and always-on digital lifestyles. The pressure to constantly over-deliver under budget is causing us to lose our ability to control and channel our energy in positive ways. We’re burned out on work we once loved because we’ve run out of room for randomness, spontaneity, and serendipity — all of which are crucial to creativity and innovation. Often the only mode of repair is to desperately, suddenly take a week off (instead of quitting or running screaming from the building).

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I refer to this kind of recuperative time off as the "go away and try to remember whether you still like yourself" escape. It would be nice if we didn’t need this type of sabbatical, if our society and corporate culture were different, and we managed our time and relationships better. In reality, we not only need but also deserve them.

In my case it give me time to as it were to "contemplate my navel" to consider where I came from and where I am going. I have already been reminded by Pastor Joy (no pun intended but indisputably a joy to all of us at Scripture Institute as well as herself and me.) Phil the plumber has begun to ply me with his unique brand of humor and we trade really cute dog pictures as well as restful pictures around the world.

Again I think of home (Mallow, county Cork) where our ancestral home is located, Castle Dromineen which used to sit on a pristine 50,000 acres overlooking the Blackwater river. The River Blackwater rises on the Cork Kerry border. It flows in County Cork through the towns of Mallow and Fermoy, then onto County Waterford through the towns of Ballyduf, Lismore and Cappoquin and finally enters the sea at Youghal.

When one thinks about tourism in Ireland, names like Killarney, Connemara, West Cork and Donegal might spring to mind, but when you ask someone in the know where is the best place for fishing in Ireland, where are the best places for horse riding, canoeing, kyaking, golf, walking, cycling, mountain biking or eating out - somewhere along the Blackwater Valley will be mentioned. Home, which gentle readers brings a wee tear or several to me eyes as I realize that in all likely hood I not see again in this lifetime. Where the "Thin Places" are found in abundance, in the Celtic tradition such places that give us an opening into the magnificence and wonder of that (HIS) Presence are called "Thin Places." There is a Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller. A thin place is where the veil that separates heaven and earth is lifted and one is able to receive a glimpse of the glory of God. A contemporary poet Sharlande Sledge gives this description.

"Thin places," the Celts call this space,

Both seen and unseen,

Where the door between the world?

And the next is cracked open for a moment

And the light is not all on the other side.

God shaped space. Holy.?

It is no wonder that thin places are most often associated with wild landscapes. A thin place requires us to step from one world to another and that often means traveling to a place where we have less control and where the unpredictable becomes the means of discovery. Rugged seacoast like the Cliffs of St. David’s, windswept Islands like Iona, and rocky mountain peaks like Croagh Patrick were thin places in ancient times and still call out to pilgrims today. These sanctuaries of creation help us as John O’Donohue writes, "to anchor our longing in the ancient longing of Nature." I wish you all gentle readers, to find your "thin Places".?

A blast of Celtic music,

A sound fossil from the past,

Carried from distant space

To ear, through mouth,

Through millenniums of time,

Of the same tribe,

Of the same spirit,?

By some intangible thread.?

Part two Seventeen years in the past

Excursus?

If you listen to ... . . .?the political blather then America has the best health care system in the World!?Gentle reader, you know that I won't lie to you or for you.?But Politicians will and do it without regard to your concerns. We as a people are expendable.?

My wife Marti has Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. M.E. It is an injury to the Central Nervous System, usually triggered by an infectious disease process, e.g. a virus, or by chemicals over stimulating the immune system. It is a multi-system disease, affecting not only the neurological system but also the immune, musculoskeletal, endocrine (hormonal) and cardiovascular systems. There is no cure as we would understand it. But at least we have a name for it. She was misdiagnosed by doctors 15 years ago which did damage to her health and will eventually kill her . But our Heavenly Father is sufficient.

So here is our story and maybe your or someone you know but haven't seen recently a mother, father son or daughter.?

Marti and I met in Ireland and I followed her back to America (she claims that she ask her parents "He followed me home can I keep him"?) My story is that I was going on a whirlwind speaking engagement through sixteen states in a month and she followed me (because I was a fascinating personality with a wee bit of brogue with blarney attached). We were married and settled down with me speaking 4-5 times a week and as many times on a weekend and Marti working on her M.B.A. and taking care of our 35 Parrots and dogs who followed her around the same as I did.

One day when I came home I found her in bed with a high temperature and violently sick at her stomach. My mother had taken her to the E.R. and was told Marti had a strep throat. She lay in bed for two week and we went to more than a dozen doctors., who told us that she had every thing from M.S. to Lupus and?Chronic Fatigue . Some even told her that there was nothing wrong but it was "all in her head".?

Gentle Reader, we went to internist, neurologists, psychiatrists, M.D.'s, D.O.'s?only to be told "Nothing wrong with you, here take this pill or drink this liquid." I watched as Marti was getting weaker and weaker and was moving less and less.?

?I was frantic, Gentle reader, I gave up my traveling and speaking engagements, confined myself to writing and tending my love of my life. I started a writing campaign asking for someone to step forward and help. Family and friends turned away! I wrote the Indiana Representatives in congress Lugar and Pence Governor) they ignored me I wrote the Surgeon General, no help I even wrote President George Bush (need I tell you how we were?ignored. And as we?Irish have dual citizenship?I served in the U.S. Air Force during the Viet Nam conflict and in Korea).

To make this story shorter we spent all of our money ( my retirement to go back to Ireland) lost our home and my secular job due to my health issues and we are reduced to my Veterans pension and living in subsidised housing.??

?I tell all of this to you Gentle reader, because we need to take care of those wee children and adults who are subject to the whims of uncaring politicians, unfeeling pharmaceutical companies, grasping Insurances groups.?You are not your own Gentle reader. And those who would tell you that Christians care need to look at those who would restrict the equal rights of an other while all the time claiming their rights are being violated.?

Gentle Reader, there are exceptional people in this country who do care, but many a politicians who claim American exceptionalism need to look at those "Real Americans" (not the Sara Palin kind) struggling to make the American dream come true not only for their family but?for those around them.?

To bring you up to date: Marti my love of my life, with a education second to none (Ed.D., Ph.D., MBA) is now too weak to lift her head up off of her pillow and I sit by her side never leaving except to take care of her needs and our two service dogs McGee Chi and Bailey.?

Now Gentle reader, you know why I don't write as much as I use to. And before you think I am seeking sympathy or something else I am no saint (except in the sight of our Heavenly Father) I want to leave you with this one thought.??

This is my own practice, and I frequently speak about it to others. Imagine that in front of you on one side is your old, selfish I and that on the other side is a group of poor, needy people. And you yourself are in the middle as a neutral person, a third party. Then, judge which is more important - whether you should join this one selfish, self-centered, stupid person or these poor, needy, helpless people. If you have a human heart, naturally you will be drawn to the side of the needy beings. And why should you ask? Because God has put into each one of us a wee bit of Himself. So that you might see through His eyes and feel through His heart how much He loves each one of us. Sin has never been an issue with The Heavenly Father, merely a way for the small among us to keep score.?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Mat 22:37-39 KJV)

Part Three Epilogue

Now Gentle Reader,?

?Here comes to really awesome part and how once again I heard and saw the “Spirit” of The Holy working for the good of all. Marti has reach out to those on the Net remember we are doing everything that we can to make her comfortable. And there is a small group of women with the same disease. They are located all over the world and since they are all in the same fish bowl as it were they call themselves The “Fish tank”. Now since most have no care givers or family to step up and help they are at the mercy of the “:cold, cruel world” Three days ago we found out that one of these dear ladies (of which there are more than a million world wide) found out that because she had no money (cut off by the bureaucratic policy of her country) No food, no communication, no phone no internet (the only contact she had with the outside world). The fish tank went into action!??A women in Australia contacted a small shop in Canada and persuaded the shop owners to deliver a phone to the women, another lady from Russia who lives in?Chile provided a prepaid debit card so that our friend in Canada could purchase food. Another who lived in the same community went and bought food for this dear child of God’s?heart.?Others sent money. And so on.??We had nothing to give so we prayed.?

Now here is the most interesting part. These ladies have never meet or talked on the phone! Just helping another along the way. None claim to be “Christian” they just are reaching out with the little that they have to help one in need. Can you see the Love of God in these dear souls? If you don’t see in every individual a worth beyond measure, then Gentle reader, you have missed it. The most misunderstood message that God has given us.

?GOD CONSIDERS US OF UNIQUE WORTH AND VALUE, SEES US "IN CHRIST", "ACCEPTED IN THE ONE ALWAYS BE-LOVED", WITH ALL THE ACCEPTABLENESS OF CHRIST HIMSELF, WITHOUT BLEMISH AND WITHOUT SPOT