Moments

Moments

May 2, 2016

Do you have a friend with whom communication is difficult?  Specifically, I'm talking about those who who are not particularly good about listening.  Generally, these individuals are poor listeners because they are always talking - completely oblivious to the fact that someone else might want to say something.  One such individual comes to mind as I write this.  Lately, the blame has been put on the loss of hearing.  Doubtful, as the issue has been in place long before any hearing loss began to take place.  

I wonder if God's communication with us is often just as frustrating - to him.  It's not that our hearing is defective, it's that our attention is defective.  For the most part, we tend to not be tuned in to God's communication network.  We may treat him like my friend treats others - we are too busy talking to listen.  Being the patient God that he is, I imagine he awaits the moments we stop talking and are ripe for listening.

The comedian, Jeff Allen, talks about one such moment, the moment when God got through because Jeff stopped talking and was ripe for listening.  It just so happened when he and his wife were on their way to dissolve their marriage.  They stopped and asked themselves what they were doing, prayed and God took over the conversation.  It changed Jeff's career, and their lives.  By the way, Jeff is known today for his comedy segment, "Happy Wife, Happy Life."

Jeff Walling, preacher and teacher, talks of his God moment through the illustration of chalk and his own personal grace circle.  Influenced by a culture of legalism, he talks of how he viewed others and determined who was worthy of heaven and who was not by way of a figurative circle of chalk.  In his circle of grace, some made it in, but many did not.  Long story short, was when he realized that his God moment came when God asked for the chalk.

Yesterday, I believe God got through as I knelt down to talk to a little girl after church services.  She is the sort of little girl everyone at church stops and talks to.  It can't be helped.  Jaylie is a living, breathing Precious Moments doll.  If the name doesn't ring a bell, just think of the little porcelain figurines of children with the big, beautiful eyes.  Jaylie is known for her precious little face and great, big, beautiful eyes.  I knelt down to talk to her, as this normally vivacious little girl was clasped tightly to her mother's leg.  A little tear hung in the corner of her eye.  As I reached to wipe away the tear, her mother explained that some event had happened in the nursery to generate the tear and the unhappiness.  Yet something else happened in that moment - that precious moment.  The verse, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

I guess I've always pictured this verse as God wiping away the tears children and adults, but adults mostly.  I guess I've always imagined God putting his arm across shoulder after shoulder, looking at each of us face to face, reaching across the void, and wiping away the tears.  Each tear was representative of hurt, loss, injustice, war, pestilence, wrongdoing by others, anger and every sort of emotional hurt and pain we endure through life.

I'm fairly sure I've been wrong about the picture.

God does, after all, call to us as children, and refers to himself as our Father.  After yesterday, I'm reminded once again just how big he is, and how really small we are - not small in size, but in intellect, knowledge and most importantly - wisdom.  We are children compared to Him.  I believe that when we greet Him in glory, He is more likely to kneel down to our level, or lift us up as children, to soothe, calm, protect, and with an enormous finger - wipe away the tears.  I did not ask for clarification with Jaylie about the nature of the hurt.  Such things are commonplace in the world of a four year-old.  Away from parents, and left to their own devices, children are either extremely happy and caught up in play, or filled with some drama - earth shattering for the moment for a four year-old, but merely a passing drama from the wisdom of an adult.  the adult listens, soothes, and wipes away the tear.  Just being with the parent sets the world back on its axis.  Life is wonderful once again.

I wonder if God does not view many of the things we cry about as merely the drama of a child separated from the immediate protection of the Father.  As I have grown older, i have had a new appreciation for the wisdom found in the book of Ecclesiastes.  When I was younger, the book seemed cynical, hard and pessimistic.  Yet, as a youth, I was passionate about justice, politics, Christianity and a host of ideologies.  I would say that as a man approaching 60, I am no less passionate.  As a matter of fact, I believe myself to be far more passionate.  However, time has taught me that much of what man cares about is meaningless.  This does not mean that there is little worth caring about - injustices, righting wrongs and saving souls...especially the mission to save souls.  It means that our knights in shining armor are often battling windmills - pettiness, selfish goals and ambitions, words instead of true ideals, hollow threats and empty promises.  The knights we look up to have tarnished armor and straw fills their armor.  Much of what we pursue is meaningless, and we fight one another rather than the forces of darkness.

This God moment, this precious moment, was prompted by the tears of a little girl.