By Joseph Ostrander
Random thoughts in no particular order…
One of the songs selected today during service contained these words with their associated meaning: “We are here for You…” Hmmm…are we really here for God, or is it more accurate to consider God is here for us? I don’t know about you, but I often wonder about how I fit into the Grander Scheme of the eons of time past, the billions of individuals alive today, let alone all those who have died before I was born. Do you think that there is a divine destiny determined for us? Or do you think that God simply takes pleasure in the marvelous reality of our uniqueness? The Trinity is quite content with their creative expression of the very essence of our personalities without an ulterior motive?
I don’t feel like I’m a critical cog in the humongous Wheel-of-Fate, or however it is you imagine God winding up the intricately interwoven elements of space and time and self-awareness and our place in the wonderful workings of the universe…
Another song Aly and Megan included in their worship set contained these words as a petition: “Let Your fire fall down.” The scriptures contain numerous references to fire, and there are 3 common understandings of fire we may have been taught: 1) fire as a form of torture or torment (e.g. eternal conscious torment in the fire’s of Hell); 2) fire as the final element of annihilation or complete consumption; or 3) fire as a means of purification. In John’s account of the Revelation(s), chapter 1 verse 14 records this description of One Like the Son of Man: “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.” I suppose the manner which you imagine how such a gaze would impact you relates closely to the 3 viewpoints of what Holy Fire means to you personally…
I don’t know about you, but my self-image is truly distorted. And Chris’ message about remembering who we are is a timely reminder that the process of having our skewed view of ourselves brought back into focus can only be realized when we choose to gaze deeper into those divine eyes of blazing fire…
Think about it…
Amen.