When God Speaks You'd Better Listen

I seldom get a chance to watch television programming.  I haven’t owned a television for over 26 years. This was one of the choices I made to allow myself to become less affected by the outer world and become more connected to my core inner-life.   

One of the advantages of this self-imposed Media-fast is the enjoyment of some quality DVD collections from the TV world of the past.   

One of the programs in the ‘better late than never’ department is the show Joan of Arcadia. What a brilliant program.  It has all of the 5 major emotional flavours; deep and profound, light and funny, silly and touching.  Sometimes it is dark, real and gutsy.  The program's theme song is aptly, What if God Were One of Us.   

The premise of this series is that an adolescent girl while on her way to school is approached by God (who looks like a (hot) guy).  First of all God has to prove he is well….God.  God then asks her to do a task; something that she can’t perceive as making any sense.   

Even though she resists complying in a charmingly human way, she eventually does follow through.  We as the audience then get to enjoy how her choices play out in her family, school and community life.  At any point in the episode, God may pop up in the guise of anyone; someone normal (or not quite so normal).

Somehow, for me this God talking to us stuff all feels true.

God talked to me. 

On one occasion I was asleep at night and I heard a voice call my name.  I opened my eyes and all I could see was a brown fog.  I made my way downstairs to my roommate’s room and woke her up.  I continued through the house until I reached the hallway to the bathroom.  Just then the carpet burst into flame.  The brown fog was the smoke that had been generated from the smoldering of the carpet. We put out the fire, and then went ‘Whoa’!  Divine Intervention! 

There was another occasion when I again heard a voice call my name.  My family was traveling late at night from the Tobermory ferry to our home in Wingham.  I said “What?” The voice said "Open Your Eyes".  I did, just as the car was approaching a sharp curve in the highway.  I was behind the wheel and I had fallen asleep.

Do I believe in God?  You bet.  Do I believe in Guardian Angels?  Yes, I do without a doubt.  In the Bible, Angels usually say ‘Hark’ and ‘Fear Not’.  That’s like saying ‘Hey You’ or ‘Listen Up and Don’t Freak Out’.

Most of the time, this voice is still and small, and says less obviously remarkable things.  These things are no less compelling.  "Don't do that" or "Do this' or  "Quit wasting time; you know what the answer is" or "Hold this truth for now, this isn't the time". 

I still trust this voice. 

The question is, as with Joan's dilemma, is do we follow this advice in faith.  We can't fully comprehend what the outcomes will be, or know if there will be personal suffering.  According to the writers of Joan of Arcadia, God has made a perfect system. 

I don’t know why we weren’t killed in a house fire, or left wheels up in a ditch, but I trust that if I do wake up dead, it really will be my time.  I simply trust that God speaks to me.

And then there was the time my heart stopped beating while I was on the operating table during an emergency surgery….but that is a story for another time.

Keep well_ Nelda