Night's Dark Hours: A Poem

I'm writing right now from a hotel room. It's been a few days since Irene swept through our state, leaving hundreds of thousands of us without power. We've been blessed to spend some of that time in the comfort of a hotel. I've been most grateful for that! It is my hope tomorrow, when we return home, we will have power shortly afterwards. If we don't, I will not have access to my blog or the internet in general until we do.

I wanted to share a poem I wrote just now, as I was attempting to drift off to sleep. My family has already been slumbering quite peacefully for hours now! I just feel God calling me deeper and I long to plunge more and more into His infinite depths. This irresistible urge is getting in the way of my sleep in some sense! In fact, not too long ago I wrote a post titled: Midnight Reveries: Insomnia's Subtle Gifts. You can read it here if you'd like:http://ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/2011/08/midnight-revelationsinsomnias-subtle.html  

Though  it would be nice to be sleeping, and I'm sure I will be drifting off as soon as I post this, my time with God in these dark hours I consider a great gift. These hours of solitude draw me closer and closer to more intimate revelations of His love, mercy and grace. I eagerly go where He beckons and can't resist inclining the ears of my heart to His gentle whispers.

I have not really edited this poem yet, so apologize in it's potential roughness. It was conceived just a half an hour ago and I'm posting it now because I'm not sure when I'll be online again. I pray all of my readers are well! 

I'd love your thoughts and reflections on this poem and I look forward to responding when I can. Thank you!

Night's Dark Hours


Night's dark hours tenderly search
my heart for true devotion,
As soul stretches forward to
Rest in Him, His Love an infinite ocean.


Rising and swelling His peace it comes
His mercy restoring numbed senses.
Grace, like a blustery wind blows,
Knocking souls off of their fences.


His presence, most beautiful of distractions,
Leads my heart to dance in reverie.
In the silence of soul's seeming inaction,
Consciousness plunges into the most beautiful Mystery.


A corridor with no end to depth,
Enters the soul garbed in love that enfolds.
Traversing the darkest of chasms,
for a pearl of the greatest worth to behold.

YouTube Tuesday

 

 

 

 

 

Each week a growing group of bloggers are seeing how creative they can get in selecting thought provoking, and sometimes just fun, YouTube videos that have stood out to them. Each month the creator of the project, Josh, will be selecting a winner and presenting them with the "You Tube Tuesday Award".

Do you have a video that you found hilarious, thought provoking or inspiring? Come, join the project and be sure to leave your link on Josh's site: http://networkedblogs.com/l9C9c  And of course in the comments section here too!

 

 

 

 

 

My Interview with Bill Huffhine

I was very thankful that Bill Huffhine was gracious enough to accept my invitation for an interview. He is the author of a great new book: Confessions of a Christian Dropout.  You can read my review of his book here: http://ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/2011/08/confessions-of-christian-dropout-book.html

Enjoy the interview. It is broken up into two different parts. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments! Thank you!


Part 1

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Part 2

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This Moment: A Friday Tradition

This Moment

"A single photo – no words – capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by theWee Man adopted from SouleMama which was introduced to me by Sarah-Jane. If you find yourself touched by a Moment and would like to participate, post your picture on a Friday and leave your link in the comments section.

 

 

 

Midnight Revelations:Insomnia's Subtle Gifts

                                                           Courtesy of Google Images

This post is certainly not aiming at minimizing the sometimes debhilitating condition of insomnia, where one is caught in a near constant state of being awake when they so desperately want and need to find rest in the sleep realm. No, this is instead, my commentary and my personal idenficiation, with a phenomenon that I came across while reading a book I've been enjoying immensely, The Other Side of Silence: A Guide to Christian Meditation by Morton T. Kelsey.

In the following passage, Kelsey describes how during spontaneous moments in the middle of the night a voice within him will beckon him to arise and write about a given thought or insight. It is no less than God's gentle voice whispering through the corridors of his subconscious, beckoning Him for time alone with his Father, time to reflect and be washed clean from attachments and be filled with the love of His presence while gaining new understandings into his own Self and ego as well as those concerning the nature of man and God.


Kesley's middle of the night revelations and encounters with God were conceived by the advice of his friend who was also a respected psychologist. He had related his struggle of perceiving many of the scripture's meanings "vanishing into thin air" as he struggled spiritually and sought to encounter God more experientially. Having had shared this in the past, on another get together with his friend he began to complain at length about his concerns in his sleeping patterns, fearing he had fallen prey to a pattern of insomnia he wouldn't be able to shake.

"Usually I sleep four or five hours and then awaken, and at that time I would lie in bed and stew, angry because I could not go back to sleep. When I told my psychologist friend this, he smiled, alomost as if amused, and then asked, "Has it ever occurred to you, Morton, that someone might be trying to get through to you? Don't you remember how God called Samuel in the night"

From then on  I began to get up in the night and write down my dreams and then try to listen. I soon discovered that this was prime time for me. It was a time when the telephone did not ring, and the children had no more questions for that day, and parishioner's problems were safely bedded down. I found that I could listen to God during this time and tell him about my fears and anxieties, and what I had dreamed. After about thirty minutes to an hour, with everything written down as best as I could in a journal, I would go back to bed and soon be asleep, my inner buisness in better order.

...It is usually at these times that the best insights about my life and the world around me (both physical and spiritual) come to me. Insomnia can be a calling from the depth of oneself that we have unfishinesd spiritual business, that there are things we need to look at, deminsions, shadows and lights, even entities that we have overlooked."

I can identify to a degree with Kelsey's experience of being awakened in the night by God.  It is not an every night occurrence for me but there have been nights, usually a series of a few in a row, where I will wake up around 2 am with a thought, a prayer or the impression just to get downstairs and to write or to pray. These times usually come when I find myself steeped and focused in the regular practice of prayer and meditation during my days.


I remember one such night. I awoke with these words that were echoing through my head. My whole consciousness seemed to be filled with an awareness of God's intimate love for me and I just felt bubbling over with devotion towards Him. I've oftentimes used the word "smitten" when describing my sentiments towards God, and in the wee hours of this morning, when dawn was not yet ready to pull back her curtains to reveal day, I felt beyond smitten. I felt both lost and found in His love. And it was glorious. These feelings were overflowing from within my center taking the form of words that seemed to come with a rythym and life of their own.

I knew I had to write them down. I knew if I waited until morning they would be gone, a mere shadow of the form they now presented themselves to be. It was if I had no choice. If I stayed in the comfort of my warm and welcoming bed I would have just laid awake anyways, wishing I was downstairs working through my thoughts on paper. I crept out of bed, leaving my husband slumbering blissfully in his dream state and upon arriving downstairs, grabbed my laptop, closed my eyes and let my heart flow out with the words that were initiated through the spark of God's love and presence.
 

This was the morning when the following poem was conceived. I'm not suggesting it's any kind of literary masterpeice. I don't claim to be a poet. But I do feel that God's love that morning ushered these words to the surface of my subconscious, giving form to it revelation of His great love and prose to some of what I've experienced during my spiritual journey in entering into ever greater depths of His presence.

In The Fullness of His Presence

Living, breathing, my heart is beating,
The wind blows, my faith grows,
all around life is teeming,
Lessons...beckon, the Present is my teacher
centered, in the stillness, my soul opens up to greet her,

Poised at the pinnacle of revelation
rejoicing with all of creation
nestled in the bosom of reality
I find God inside of Me.

Laughing, dancing, weeping, kneeling
I thank God for the senses of feeling.
Perched on the point between joy and despair
I breathe God in, He's everywhere.

Drunk on the ecstasy of my senses swallowing me
Every sound, every movement leaps alive from life's mural
Every moment a living mandala, impermanent and fertile.
God, living and breathing and sustaining it all,
I just rest, centered, hearing His steady call.

Draw near, draw near, enter in and find your rest,
Draw near, kneel at my throne and you will be blessed.
His throne, eternal, having no beginning or end,
Centered in our hearts, beckoning our knees to bend.

I also can relate to the experience that Kelsey wrote about of how when one is being called by God during these dark hours and when obedience takes form into action and we follow His call, then, after the message or insight is received, He oftentimes with mercy cuts the strings that have held us awake and lets us once again fall back into a peaceful slumber. After waking and either writing or just meditating or reading Scripture and receiving the love or insights that He has for me during those moments, there usually comes a moment of "knowing", when I know that all is well, what was meant to be has been acheived or experienced, and I can now go back to bed. And I do, resting in the cradle of His love and peace.


While insomnia can be a condition that  can be a hindrance to a good night's sleep and effect other facets of our lives, it might also be a moment of opportunity for many of us. It might be an opportunity to unwrap a beautiful gift God is calling you to receive. Is God drawing you from the sleep realm to arise, O sleeper, and turn your heart towards Him in moments when the busyness and distractions of life fade into the background and your inner self can become more focused on His reality? Is God trying to tell you something, or perhaps give you a gift of hope or a ray of understanding and insight that will carry you more gracefully through the day that has not yet begun?

Can you recall a moment when you awoke from sleep, seemingly called out of slumber, by God's gentle voice beckoning to spend some time with Him? I'd love to hear about if you do!

Any thoughts? I'm sure you have some! I'd love to hear them. Please leave them in the comments section. Thank you!

This Moment: A Friday Tradition

This Moment

"A single photo – no words – capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by theWee Man adopted from SouleMama which was introduced to me by Sarah-Jane. If you find yourself touched by a Moment and would like to participate, post your picture on a Friday and leave your link in the comments section.

 

 

 

Confessions of a Christian Dropout ( Book Review)

I've read a lot of books but only a few have really left me thinking, returning back to their pages for reference and recollection, long after their last pages were turned. "Confessions of a Christian Dropout", written by author and former pastor William Huffhine is one such book. It is a refreshingly  honest account of one man's struggles as he grapples with taking hold and experiencing the limitless possibilities God offers us in the sometimes severely limiting world of organized religion.


His confessions begin in early childhood as he retells the account of his first baptism and the real reason behind it.  He continues his tale of seeking God by taking readers through the doorways of Christianity's many denominations-from Methodist, to Baptist, to non-denominational and Pentecostal churches. He's left his soul's footprints all along the organized pathways of Christianity as he has travelled seeking truth, answers and a connection with God.


In his book, Huffhine is not afraid to ask the difficult questions. The kind few of us would dare look into the eyes of a pastor and utter yet a lot of us have had running through our wondering minds more than once. I identified with many of these questions and I know many others will find their own inner inquiries echoed within the pages of his book, providing a very refreshing read. He relates well with readers who love Christ but feel conflicted with what the Church represents and has to offer us today.  Huffhine asked these questions to himself when he was both a member of various churches and a pastor of a church. It was only when he could break free and ask these questions openly that he found a greater sense of freedom in his journey to question, probe and seek.  


His questions are the kind that can run us into the walls of doubt, or cynicism or even the lonely emptiness that can arise out of thinking we've been altogether abandoned by God in our journeys in seeking Him. These questions are what allowed Huffhine to break free from the entangled snare in which organized religion had bound him, constricting the muscles of his spiritual heart to flow freely on its own accord. Once untethered he was liberated to pursue God at full sprint rather than on a measured leash.

"My spiritual journey, particularly these last few years, has led me to believe that the way of the Spirit is far too grand, too expansive, too majestic, and too mysterious to be contained within the walls of a religion. There is, indeed, much more on the other side of the artificial horizon that has been created by man to keep me safely within the evangelical Christian fold.                  p. 91

Throughout his book, Huffhine's bold questions, candid and thoughtful reflections towards what the  Scriptures offer us for answers, maintains a strong conviction towards the core doctrines of the Christian faith and a clear reverence for God's Word while at the same time explores the possibilities of perceiving a deeper sense of reality surrounding God and His ways. In all of his views, Huffhine uses Scripture to support them.

" And you may think that this has weakened my belief in the God of the Bible. You would be wrong. I write these final pages more convinced than ever that the God of the Garden, the one whom John identified as the Word made flesh, is truly the God calling out to all men to return to him. And echoes of that original truth still linger in the hearts, minds and words of men and women in every civilization, in every corner of the world, and in every belief system. Where we, and they, go wrong is when we set up camp at a destination and abort the journey, before arriving back in the presence of the One who first looked upon us and said, 'They bear my image.'.".                         p. 93-94

Huffhine is not done inspiring and encouraging other believers of Christ who wish for something deeper in their experiences with God and long to walk honestly through their questions to find answers.  He invites all who read his book to join him on his journey and to share their own. You can do  that by visiting his blog: www.christiandropout.com  and sharing your story while learning more about his. I have found his articles insightful and thought provoking and his reflections have the ability to resonate well within the hearts of those who are seeking spirituality in a religion that has run dry for so many. See what they have to offer you.  

I would highly recommend this book. It flows well and fluently and does what all great books do, makes one think long after the last page is turned.

Note: If you liked this review and enjoy the author's website stay tuned! I will be conducting a podcast interview with him as well as have posts which feature passages from his book!

Any thoughts? I'm sure you have some! Please leave them in the comments section! Thank you!

YouTube Tuesday

Each week a growing group of bloggers are seeing how creative they can get in selecting thought provoking, and sometimes just fun, YouTube videos that have stood out to them. Each month the creator of the project, Josh, will be selecting a winner and presenting them with the "You Tube Tuesday Award".

Do you have a video that you found hilarious, thought provoking or inspiring? Come, join the project and be sure to leave your link on Josh's site: http://networkedblogs.com/l9C9c  And of course in the comments section here too!