Past the Clay

If we look at the world around us we can dicern several things about God, just like one might discern certain things about a painter, from a painting he made. We can see that God is a creative God, with new things popping up at every twist and turn, things beyond what we can imagine. We can see that God loves beauty, for we see beauty in everything from the stars, to the faces of every person on earth. But there's something else that tends to fly under the radar, that I believe is just as important.

I have recently been taking a general biology class, with Kalahan and Sierra. For me one of the most astonishing things is that now matter how small the subject being studied, there was no end to the intricacy of God's creation. I thought wow if the universe is so complex, then God must be even more so for the painting cannot exceed the painter, but then i thought about how simple our idea of God was. Why was this? Well, to explain let me tell you a story:

Imagine if you will a small village, supported by a single ancient well, and inhabited my rather lazy people, who always take the easy route in every choice they make. One day our villagers are stunned to find that the well is dry. They come to the wise conclusion that a new well must be dug. However after only a couple of feet or so, they come upon thick clay. Instead of trying to dig through the tough layer of clay, they decide to dig elsewhere, but are frustrated to find the clay wherever they dig, but again, instead of exerting themselves, they simply drink the dirty water that seeps into all the shallow holes they dug, and as a result many become sick.

You may think the villagers rather dim to say the least, but this a good picture of the church today. We often refuse to struggle with the deeper issues, to learn about the troublesome things of God's character: How could God have allowed evil into the world? Why did he have the Israelites wipe out entire nations? If we choose to ignore these issues, not only will we miss out on a deeper understanding of your creator, savior and father, we, like our villagers, will become sick spiritually.

So dig deeper, work past the clay. It'll probably give you a headache, but trust me it will be worth it.


In Christ's love Aaron

Music

Music. What is music? Music for me is a way of communicating or expressing my emotions or feelings on a level that completely captivates not only the person listening, but also captivates my own soul.

Music is so much more than just sounds that we make though. It's complexity is actually quite overwhelming sometimes. Music is within every one of us. Sorry if I sound like I'm going in the direction of August Rush. But that's the beauty in it... it can be so complex, but at the same time so simple.

I think that's sometimes the way our faith is. We can get so wrapped up in all the complexities and complicated methods of going about our faith that we forget to slow down and just listen. Listen to the music and enjoy it. That's what it's there for. Sometimes I'll just sit at the piano and play a simple piece and listen closely to every little note. Even though I love playing more complicated pieces, the moments that I focus on what the notes are saying is when I learn to appreciate it the most... when I slow down and just listen.

God created us to have a relationship with Him. And sometimes in a relationship we get so busy trying to "play the piece" perfectly or please a certain person that we end up ignoring or not listening. I know life can be busy sometimes and I know that it seems like we can never slow down... but if we stop moving for ten minutes and just sit in silence and let the music of God sing to us, He will be able to speak and you will be able to understand and listen.

I thank God for music every chance I get because I think that throughout all the junk in this world... God gave us humans a beautiful way to see maybe a fraction of the way the world should have been.
So maybe if we thank God for his Son and the opportunity to have a relationship with him and focus heavily on listening, even if we don't hear Him or understand Him at first, eventually we may see a glimpse of what it would be like to walk with God in the Garden of Eden.

In Christ's Love,
Josh