"Illusions........................."

"Today, with a myriad of instruments, we can explore things we never imagined; but we can no longer see what is directly in front of us… The closer God is, the less means are necessary, even words becoming superfluous in speaking with Him, for the one who has no more words has found God.”… Thomas Merton

I came home from church last night, stretched out in the recliner, and finished the final few pages of that book on loan from my friend at school. It’s full of Henri Nouwen’s thoughts concerning the above author and, at times, remembering which one of the two is speaking is a challenge; but, for the small paperback that it is, it yielded two pages of quotes that will remain with me. While seldom, if at all, can the name of Christ be found within the content, yet the language used to describe the search to know the Creator more deeply than what comes to us through our theological efforts to contain Him in a box embraces much that my own journey in Pentecost has found to be true. Not that we have a lock on such commodity. Indeed, it seems to me, humanity being humanity, the vessel, whether one speaks of the individual or the institution, is prone to stumble down the path, the key in this being a commitment to remembering grace isn’t a term we define for ourselves, but a divine inner Reality asking only our permission to join us in the walk… The pastor, in the early service yesterday morning, returned to last week’s theme via a different route, our need to return to an old-time encounter with the fullness of God’s presence in our midst stressed as being something we’ve lost along the way. Blessings, we know. The Holy Ghost yet moves, salvation, healings, and baptisms occurring on a regular basis; but how long has it been since His entrance brought unto us the truth of His existence, the body faced with a compelling need to either run toward the altar or flee out the back door one? Maybe it has something to do with our having evolved into a “prosperity gospel” wherein authority is ours to claim, righteousness ours to create, and “spiritual levels” ours to conquer. Ya’ think?......