listen

What if I told you that God speaks through everything? 

No, I'm not promoting pantheism (God is everything, or is the sum of everything, that exists)or even panentheism (God is contained within everything that exists). What I'm saying is that God, who is the Creator of all things, communicates to us through that creation.  

This resonates with people who find a particular sunset landscape especially divine, or find holy inspiration through a piece of art. Through creation, our creator shares that creative identity with us. 

Of course, this also means that God speaks through grimy oil coated seascapes and through the eyes of the homeless, hungry, and hurting within our city. Why don't we talk about that?

Probably because we don't like to listen to what God has to say in those communiques. We'd much rather soak up the blessing of garden at peace than the judgment within a creation broken through human avarice and consumption. We'd much rather experience the beauty of God's voice through song rather than the harshness of God's cries within the mouths of those in need. 

We need to listen to God wherever we are, not just wherever we want to hear what God is saying. God is speaking words we need to hear across this world, and the more we block out the messages we don't want, the more we ignore the Word we need. 

This week, listen for God in the best of times and the worst of times, in the springs of hope and in the winters of despair. Listen. God is calling through it all.