Seeking

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

Have you ever shouted at a cloudy sky? Have you ever looked into a perfect spring day and wondered why you couldn't connect with life around you? Have you practiced seeking enough, to know when you come up empty?

Most of us can relate to the heart cry of David.
...earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you

And the place of his longing? Where are we, when our reaching and striving for the divine to show up and identity itself seems only to be empty striving?

in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

I suppose there are those in our world so mesmerized by noise and glitz, they are unable to recognize the deeper longing within themselves to connect to something, or someOne higher than themselves. There are some who have never been choked by the dusty lack of the holy in their lives. But surely, they are few...

Today's scripture readings emphasize the former distance. Samuel doesn't recognize the voice of God, and must be instructed to welcome the invisible nighttime utterance. David cries out for God--finally satisfied by a sanctuary's portrayal of glory. But then we read of John the Baptist, pointing at Jesus and saying I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. (John 1:34)

Surely God's purpose in showing up and living with us was nothing less than to crush the barrier that bars humankind from direct interface with deity. In the intro to First John, the writer tells us that his very eardrums have vibrated at the sound of The Voice, his very eyes have seen in the flesh that which was from the beginning, and the nerve endings in his hands have touched God. And Jesus told us the same would happen for us when we care for the hurts of our world. (Mt. 25:31ff)

Do we seek to inspire with stuff? Are we so bent on enjoying performance in our worship that we ignore God's Voice? Indeed, ignore God? Is the best indoor jungle gym truly the way to lead our children to a sense of awe in God's presence? I can hear it: "AWESOME!"

I wonder, now that God has come and lived among us, if our record crowds, our pop Christian culture bubble, and our larger sanctuaries will finally slake our thirst for the Holy?

a dry and weary land...