Talk Me Out Of IT

Someone looked at me a little funny the other day when hearing about the labyrinth and it got me to thinking. (really, several people have asked questions and I take it as an opportunity to share what God is teaching me thru this new time) And yes, I do know that thinking is one of my biggest problems. I over think things…round & round, over & over I over think things. So, I am taking this adventure as a Holy Spirit filled move in my heart in doing the labyrinth…not just walk in one somewhere, but build one right next to our house!

Just one of my lessons in the labyrinth…

Slow down, be still and know…don’t think!

And there you will worship useless items made of wood and stone carved by human beings, so-called “gods” that can’t see or hear or eat or smell.   

But when you’re there, you’ll look for the Eternal your God. 

If every part of you is invested in the search, heart and soul, then you’ll find Him.   

 When you’re in trouble in those days yet to come 

because of all these things, 

you’ll come back to the Eternal your God, 

and you’ll listen to His voice.

Deut. 4:28-30

The Voice Version

I try to communicate to people that the prayer labyrinth is a tool, a spiritual practice of focused prayer. Our world is soooo LOUD!!! It is always racing, tho’ toward what no one seems to say…BUT, nonetheless, we’re all supposed to multi-multi task. Opinions fly everywhere, on all kinds of social media on how to live, how to make $$$, how to raise kids, how to do how-to stuff ~ YIKES!!! (and no worries, the irony that you’re reading on a blog right now isn’t lost on me )

Do you think we have been so “trained”, so numbed by the velocity at which our world assails us, that our inputs have been damaged? Maybe our brains are just too clogged to process it all….and, were we really ever meant to in the first place?

Perhaps for you, my initial thought seems disconnected to those questions, but hang on a sec, we’re getting there!

As God’s children, Jesus’ friend and sojourners with the Holy Spirit, are we not also, at our very core, to be Seekers? And as the evil one does in this fallen world, he tries to turn that God given purpose to confusion and dysfunction.  As if, by an unseen compulsion, everywhere, everyone has an opinion and is compelled to share with the class.

Perception, opinion and experience are not Truth. They are, at best, perspective ~ a glimpse, nothing more. A teachable heart understands that Truth, grand, glory-filled Truth, is not where we begin, it is where we are going.

We live in a world that says, “my perception is Truth, till you talk me out of it.” But if we are not listening, open, teachable-heart Seekers, then how will we ever move out from behind the walls of our own perception? Obviously, many things we know to be Truth are! And that is a good thing. Those are God’s gifts of perception and experience that work to encourage our heart, to “do a good work in us” as we grow closer to Him.

But what about those “walls” we live behind? Just because we have installed a few windows to peek thru, doesn’t mean we are living with a heart fully open to His teachings.

His ways are not our ways and all that, ya know! So Lord, I am praying that You will please talk me out of it…whatever “it” is!

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10

The Message version