A recurrent theme has been a common thread throughout the past 2 weeks. Whether explicity finding itself through explicit means or implicitly strongly imposing itself through, it seems to be "the theme" of this time period with God. It goes something along the lines of this:
each moment & circumstance (whether each mini-chapter of the day consists of an hour, 15 minutes, 1 minute, or even 10 seconds) is unique, with many different factors from the previous one as well as future ones.
I am not called to nor should I use what worked before (to commune with God and practice his presence) in other unique moments/circumstances to find, be empowered, & carry out God's will in it. I should not put God's will and/or the Holy Spirit's guidance in a box & subconsciously work at life formulaicly. Not only is the Christian life not meant to be like that, it's also boring that way. God is alive and although his character never changes, he is a spontaneous conversationalist and can & will frequently surprise his children. He is also infinitely creative and can & does come at us at an infinite variety of angles.
I like Thomas Kelly's thinking when he says:
Symbols are stationary, unchanging, frozen, while the Life of the Spirit which they symbolize is flowing, growing, changing, ever becoming richer. If we were successful, in any moment, in devising a symbolic expression absolutely adequate to represent the richness of our soul's experience of the Divine Life, then the next moment, and certainly the next day and the next year will find that symbol to be in some degree inadequate, antiquated, obsolete. For the Spirit's working, if we keep alive and sensitive to Him, is ever leading us into new vistas of truth, where the pastures become greener and the still waters greater beneath their limpid mirror"
A related theme to thsi is that I should not formulaicly impose how God is uniquely working in me to transform me & his interaction methods with me on others without any flexibility or discernment. This "messianic" way of regarding my unique pathway(s) to God should not be rigidly assigned to every Christian. Sometimes, the timing is not right. The Holy Spirit can work in however/whatever ways he wants & is not limited by the shackles of anyt radition. The only constant is his creative/flexible/fresh/variant methods which we have to keep an alert spiritual eye out for. This, in a way, can be liberating & make life all the more exciting! This way, each day has the possibility of having one's inner life unfold like a gripping novel/movie where one doesn't know what's going to happen next, but just has to wait for what the storywriter has planned to unfold. As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. Unpredictability (under the context of a good and non-evil storywriter) brings vigour, freshness, liveliness, & novelty to life. For the Christian, if one's outer world is not constantly shaken up, at least one's inner world should be.
The importance of both balance & variety, discernment & prudence. The possibility of thousands of angles & perspectives to view an issue or experience an existential reality. Throughout the past 10 days or so, God has been imbuing this theme to be constantly through different means. These include conversations with Bobby & Pui Wing, reading "A testament of devotion" by Thomas Kelly, reading the foreword of "The Sacrament of the Present Moment" by Richard Foster, stuff by Tilden Edwards, reading "Prayer" by Richard Foster, reading some of the Conversations Journal, some devotionals of Jan Johnson, and some crazy insights about metacognition (& the nature of thought expressed in language) while reading a novel called "Blink" by Ted Dekker. The only constant is to be open to the Spirit's often unpredictable movings that have a fresh & original scent of "divine sacrament" to each new moment.
Negative evidence in favour of this are looking at those Bible verses I wrote down & posted around in my room which at the time of writing them I was so impressed & deeply moved by the Spirit to write, memorize & embed them into my heart. Now, often times, I do not feel as moved as I did when I first wrote and posted these verses. As long as I still believe it is the Word of God & that I should submit to it, I don't think I should feel guilty by not being as moved by them as I was at the time of originally writing and posting them.
A good analogy to capture the essence of this theme in the past couple weeks is C.S. Lewis' analogy of the piano with all its appropriate array of keys, each which should be played only at the appropriately called time, that is when the melody that the composer wrote indicated on the music sheet shows that the timing is right for each unique & different note to strike at a certain moment. Certain keys which are perfectly appropriate to be played at their appropriate times should not be played during others. I'm always called to be "in tune" with the melody of God's musical will, but the melody is different every moment, whether God calls me to glorify him through concentrated praying, reading a book, washing dishes, talking to friends, or sleeping. To do one at the inappropriate time (even if well-intentioned) can screw up the beautiful melody. Done properly the result is a beautiful harmonious piece of music, that is, music for the soul.
Here are excerpts from a couple quotes I read which have really been jiving with my soul.
For [Caussade] Christ comes to us in a new and living way each day - indeed, each moment. What was a means of God's grace one moment may become a hindrance the next, since we worship a living Lord, not a static ritual. Hear the daring words of de Caussade: "These blessed results are not produced by any particular circumstance but by what God ordains for the present moment. What was best a moment ago is so no longer because it is removed from the divine will, which has passed on to be changed to form the duty to the next. And it is that duty, whatever it may be, that is now most sanctifying for the soul." We have in these words the invitation to the quickening life of hearing and obeying, rather than the stifling lief of rules and regulations. De Caussade continues, "If the divine will ordains that reading is the duty to the present moment, reading achieves that mysterious purpose. If the divine will abandons reading for an act of contemplation, that duty will bring about a change of heart and then reading will be harmful and useless." For those who want a life clear-cut and well-defined, such words will feel threatening. But for those who, like myself, have tried the way of law and found it wanting, de Caussade's words sweep over us like a spring breeze inviting us to the adventure.
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