Tuesday, May 8, 2007

The blind man on the corner

This morning after I dropped the kids off for school I was driving through my neighborhood and I passed a blind man on a corner. He was there with his large black dog listening perceptively and faithfuly to the sounds around him waiting for the roar of the cars to pass away and for the gentle pull of his dog to tell him it was safe to move forward.

I've thought about that all day.

  • The importance of shutting our eyes to the world and to listen in a more focused and patient way to the sounds of the spirit.

  • The importance of waiting for the nudge of the spirit to move us forward in His timing. Knowing that He sees things we don't, and that His timing is perfect.

Thomas Merton said "Every day God sends men innumerable seeds of revelation. Most perish and die because men are unprepared to plant and nurture them into life."

I am sure the blind man was in just as much a hurry to get where he wanted to be as I am. Yet life constrains him to go at a slower pace. A pace which is probably exactly the pace he needs to be safe and wise in arriving at his destination intact.

St. Paul said in many of his letters that he longed to be with the churches he wrote [blog'd] letters to. But the Bible also uses a quirky phrase a lot...it is called 'the fullness of time.' The idea behind this phrase is that nothing spiritual on Earth is dictated by our pace, but instead is balanced by His will and His full knowledge of everything.

And while I know this, it is very hard to get my heart to be ok with it. Here I am blind to what is happening in Ohio and trying desperately to percieve things and pray and act in accordance with God's heart and mind.

In my imagination I walk down the streets of Ashland. I see the families laughing in Friendly's; the chain smoking people outside the tattoo parlor; and the people walking under the streetlights alone. And inside apartments and homes are silent things; tearfull screams, desperation anxiety, dancing-worship, prayers...And demons and Angels struggling and wrestling in muddy streets, clouds, and livingrooms.

Yet I see these things dimly...blindly.

And yet the fullness of time will bring things together as they should be. If I can learn to slow down, really listen, and wait for the Spirit's nudge in what I say and do.

And even as I write these things I feel the anxiety leaving me. Like a car that has its timing-belt adjusted, my heart starts to feel like it's running at the right pace again.

"I pray in the name of Jesus for all of you to feel His peace when you read this. To know that whatever you are facing, you are not facing it alone. We may all be the blind man on the corner but if we listen and trust the nudges we will get home safe. Oh Father, send ministering angels like you did for Jesus and let them bring healing to battered souls tonight. And help us to walk at the pace of your will, and to trust that you intend good things in the fullness of time. And for those in Ashland who can't recieve this prayer yet, because they don't know you...make us into rescuers that they might come to you as well. To you the Rock, the might fortress, the sanctuary of peace, and the anchor of our souls." Amen

may we, as thier servants and seeing-eye-dogs...lead them safely home...to you

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this encouraging word David. I was thinking about this just before I got onto your blog site tonight. I need to put it "listen mode" and stay there rather than "go mode". I really need to listen more clearly to what God is really calling me to do in a lot of different areas. I feel we as a church need to listen more clearly for what the Lord is wanting and what he has for us...I feel God has grown us in this with relying on him and listening for him in this process of finding you. I pray we would continue to listen to him and move along side Jesus.

david sherwood said...

it's a funny thing i pray a lot at the botanical gardens here. whenever i am there god reminds me to walk heel, toe slowly until i slow down enough to be comfortable with the pace. THEN i am ready to really listen

 

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