{"id":649,"date":"2010-09-09T09:26:50","date_gmt":"2010-09-09T15:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=649"},"modified":"2010-09-09T09:26:50","modified_gmt":"2010-09-09T15:26:50","slug":"the-healer-speaks-through-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/09\/09\/the-healer-speaks-through-the-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"The Healer speaks through the stars…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

silence and stars - God's elixir <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

If there\u2019s a time for everything, then there\u2019s a time for grenades of darkness to pummel our souls, battering the illusions we\u2019ve built and exposing the raw pain of evil in this world. \u00a0Some weeks, some days, pastors are right in the thick of the battle, absorbing the explosion. \u00a0This has been a week of grenades: infidelity, abandonment, unspeakable pain, the idiocy of a pastor in Florida (whose church, in the height of irony, is named \u201cDove Outreach Center\u201d<\/a>), and smaller shrapnel as well, in the form of hurtful words and painful life changes in my little circle in Seattle. \u00a0I\u2019ve been in the midst of it all this week. \u00a0It\u2019s been tough.<\/p>\n

Last night, my wife and I drove north, practicing patience in 5 o\u2019clock traffic and stopping for dinner in Mt. Vernon. \u00a0It was our anniversary, and we wanted to celebrate. \u00a0The sky was painting reds, pinks, and yellows just as we turned east and headed to the cabin. \u00a0We\u2019d been chatting most of the way north, about the grenades and shrapnel, about the pain and suffering in our world, and among our people. \u00a0There is, it seems, no immunity. \u00a0As we turn east though, we stop talking, and listen to a little music, including Dave Crowder\u2019s marvelous song<\/a> about suffering and God\u2019s faithfulness.<\/p>\n

We pull in to our destination and unload the car. \u00a0It\u2019s dark. \u00a0I\u2019m tired, but the million stars are shimmering, inviting. \u00a0My wife and I wrap up in some sweaters and sit outside, in silence, and listen to the stars. \u00a0Clouds linger and then move through the dark canvas sky, alternately hiding and revealing the light. \u00a0An owl speaks. \u00a0In these moments, something begins to happen, begins to bathe my soul, wash the wounds. \u00a0This<\/em> is God\u2019s world, and it is enough to be here, to be ravished by the beauty of stars, the call of the owl, the silent testimony of His provision for us all. (God\u2019s by the way..not the owl\u2019s.)<\/p>\n

I ponder the sufferings I\u2019ve encountered this week; all of them are rooted in fear or discontentment. \u00a0All of them. \u00a0We are, all of us, afraid of losing our stuff, or our position (whether personally, at work \u2013 or nationally, in the world), or our health, or whatever we\u2019re afraid of losing. \u00a0This fear drives us to stupidity, to hate, to war, to paranoia as we respond to false realities we\u2019ve created, fight battles that don\u2019t even exist, and lose sleep over endless \u201cwhat if\u2019s\u201d rather than praying and trusting, and simply taking the next step.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also lusting;<\/em> for more, or different, for pleasures to fill some void that inhabits our soul precisely because this is a fallen world. \u00a0We\u2019re trying to evict the void by filling it with conquests or pleasures, but in our filling we\u2019re hurting ourselves, and others. And when the dust settles, there is a bigger void than ever was there before we tried to fill it. Why do we do this?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s here, in the quiet of the forest, that I\u2019m reminded security and contentment are possible. \u00a0\u201cWhom have I in heaven but You, and having You I desire nothing else on earth\u201d is what Asaph said in the midst of a world where his neighbors had more stuff than he did. \u00a0He found contentment in God. \u00a0I can too, but only when I quiet my heart long enough to see that whatever it is that I\u2019m fretting over in the moment will, like yesterday\u2019s spectacular sunset, eventually fade. \u00a0The only thing that will remain for the duration is love \u2013 and life with my Creator. \u00a0And I know, in my wisest moments, that this is enough. \u00a0I don\u2019t need my leadership role, or my stuff, or my chances to teach the Bible; as much as I enjoy them all, they\u2019re temporary\u2013and when I treat them as such, I live wiser.<\/p>\n

This posture of contentment, it seems, gives birth to security. \u00a0I think of David, who never resorted to violence or manipulation to gain the throne God had promised. \u00a0On the far end of his reign, when the stuff hit the fan, and his kingdom unraveled, he left as quietly as he entered, refusing to fight as his own son mockingly orchestrated a coup. What\u2019s this about? \u00a0Why doesn\u2019t he fight? \u00a0I think that for David, positions, prestige, and power were never the things that mattered. \u00a0He enjoyed a night sleeping under the stars, enjoyed intimacy with God, enjoyed playing his harp. \u00a0Content with creation and simplicity, his reign was held with an open hand.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s late. \u00a0My wife gets cold and goes inside. \u00a0I remain, staring out the stars, multiplying through wet eyes as I pray:<\/p>\n

O Thou \u2013 Creator and Sustainer of Life <\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for the silent moments, reminding me that behind the superficial veil of fear and lust that drives the machinery of our world, and wounds the souls of your children, there is a Hand of Love, providing, sustaining, pouring beauty onto the canvas of this broken world to bless and heal. \u00a0Forgive me for not paying attention to your wooing love. \u00a0We can\u2019t escape the pains of life, either by fear, or lust, or even contentment. \u00a0But we can be held, in your loving arms, in the midst of it all \u2013 and that will be enough. \u00a0Give me the grace to be there \u2013 and rest.<\/em><\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s a time for everything, then there\u2019s a time for grenades of darkness to pummel our souls, battering the illusions we\u2019ve built and exposing the raw pain of evil in this world. \u00a0Some weeks, some days, pastors are right in the thick of the battle, absorbing the explosion. \u00a0This has been a week of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creation","category-intimacy"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Healer speaks through the stars...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If there's a time for everything, then there's a time for grenades of darkness to pummel our souls, battering the illusions we've built and exposing the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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