Storms and Skies

Jimmy Cullingford, History Makers journey participant from Wales, UK contributes these thoughts for Lofters worldwide.  Visit the History Makers web site for details about the ministry.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,

This is what I seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the Lord

And to seek Him in His temple.

              

When there are storms at sea, some say that whilst there is white water and the waves crash down, 20ft beneath the surface it is calm. Beneath the surface, the hidden currents move unhindered by storms, like the Atlantic Gulf Stream.

Or, look to the skies, and see the buzzard or the eagle. When they see oncoming storms, they lock their wings, hit a thermal and rise above the storm, sometimes going so high they have ice on their backs.

Intimacy with God allows us to go deep or ride high. Both routes can seem scary and foolhardy for the uninitiated. But for those who know the way, these places are where they, quite simply, meet with God. In these places you experience God speaking directly to your hearts and souls, encouraging, nourishing, guiding, strengthening, comforting. Intimacy with God – letting God love you, teach you, heal you, redirect you.

And these places? Where are they? People call them “thin places” or “thin silences”. These are physical/tangible places where God’s presence is tangible. You feel at home. For me there are 2 places: St David’s, Pembrokeshire, Wales and Skirrid Mountain, Abergavenny, Wales. When I go to these places I know I am going to meet God. And I go because of this.

Often when my life has gone off course, I go there to be earthed by God, to be refocused back to HIS vision for me. I go seeking, angry, bewildered, fearful, questioning. I run, I shout, I cry, I walk, I crawl, I go as I am. And in a bird song, or creaking tree, or the blindness of fog, or silence, God speaks to me.

“Thin silences”/”Thin places” are where you find God. It could also be an activity which you do, or a memory of when God’s presence is so tangible. For both pray into the activity/memory and thank and praise God, and ask HIM to meet with you again.

Thin places, Thin silences, allow God to be intimate with you. And they can seem scary or foolhardy, because you are allowing God to love you, as Love is meant to be done. As humans we know what it is to love and to be loved. But God’s love is so intense, so far reaching, so encapsulating. Intimacy with God, wow!

A place where you can be yourself with God, no matter what is going on in the surface of your life, a place where God can Love you, and move you in the hidden ways.

Some thoughts for you:

• Where can you go to hear God?
• Where is your spiritual home?
• Where is your “thin place/silence”?

Read Psalm 139. Reflect on David’s thoughts about God’s knowledge of us.

• What does it mean to you?
• How does it make you feel?

Many of us grew up believing that every time Jesus is close to us, He wants us to do something:  read your Bible more, pray more, share your faith more, go to church more, etc.

• How would it change your view of Jesus if you believed HE doesn’t want you to do anything – HE just wants to be close to you?
• Is your life filled with too much noise to hear God?
• What are some things you could do that would free up some space to breath deeply again?

Calm me, O Lord, as you stilled the storm

Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm

Let all the tumult within me cease

Enfold me, Lord, in your peace

Selah

Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

 

When I heard about September Serve, I never imagined this happening. I posted two pieces on my blog Left of Self Center.   In these posts, I talked about how a hurricane can change everything.

Little did I know that Bolivar Peninsula would become an island and that all the towns on it would be virtually wiped off the map. One of the other things I mentioned was that a hurricane can change the pace of our lives. Anyone who has lived the past week in Houston has definitely had the pace of their lives changed. Yet despite all the hardships many of us have had to endure at the hand of this powerful storm, I find that so many good things happen in the wake of these storms. Yet I won’t use my words to describe it, I will share with you the words of my brother, Chet, in an e-mail blog he was sending to his friends when he came in from San Antonio to weather out Hurricane Ike with me.

“It was an exciting adventure.  We lost power around 5:00 Am  It was only really bad for a few hours, but it was intense.  The next day we went driving around and there were trees down all over the place.  It was like someone took a shredder and sprayed leaves and limbs over every yard and street.  Afterwards we got 12" of rain, and there was flooding everywhere.  Phones were out, electricity, no TV, or computers, and no cell phones.  The instant communication, information, and comfort were gone.  It felt marooned with no travel, no communication. Y'all knew more about what was happening than we did.  All stores and restaurants were closed.  No gas stations could pump gas because they didn’t have electricity.” 

One incredible thing was once the rain slowed, everyone came outside, talked, and they all started helping each other clean up their yards and reestablish order.  Everyone was laughing and men helped the single moms move branches, and several kids had brooms and were sweeping the streets.  Wow it really showed me how much modern technology has damaged our communities.  People turn to each other when nothing else exists.

I could not imagine 3 to 4 weeks in Houston heat and humidity with no electricity.  Now that is pure drudgery.  Well I was there for my family and the adventure of experiencing a hurricane, not drudgery.  So after extending a invitation of air conditioning and electricity at my home, I decided my career as a eyewitness reporter in the destruction of Ike was over.  It was time to go home.  I could not get home quick enough.  I am now in my cool home, with lights all around me, lap top in my lap, remote in my hand, cold beverages from my refrigerator, despising my neighbors who I have talked to maybe once or twice in 7 years.  I am just glad I am not in Houston any more, but I will be forever moved by the destruction I saw, the fun I had, the drudgery I experienced, and the community and humanity I felt.”

Point is this. Adversity brings people together. Adversity makes our faith stronger. The helping hands I saw being extended between people proves this.

Many of the people in the picture above go to either The Loft or attend services at TWUMC. We jumped out and worked to clean up the street and the neighborhood and help out our neighbor. It why I made many 140 mile round trips to Bryan/College Station to get people gas, ice, food, and information for those who couldn’t get it for themselves. We find out what is truly important when we lose things we put our reliance on: Electricity, Technology, Convenience, and so many other things that just aren’t important. My brother felt what being a Christian is really about. He felt what humanity is all about: a relationship with our God and one another.

By the way, my brother is the good looking guy in the blue shirt in the middle of the picture.

Brett Marko