From Trickles to Waterfalls

From Trickles to Waterfalls

She still remembered what she saw as tiny toddler.

“I had caught glimpses of broad, green fields, a luminous sky, trees and flowers which the darkness that followed could not blot out. If we have once seen, the day is ours.”

Many of you have heard of Helen Keller. Born in 1880, she was a normal and happy little girl from a small Alabama town. She could see and hear perfectly.

Helen as a girlHowever, before she turned two, the high fevers associated with meningitis made her blind and deaf. The sudden darkness and silence felt utterly nightmarish. She clung to her mother’s dress and had many tantrums from confusion and despair.

Months would pass.

Eventually she started to understand what was going on, using her hands to touch every object. She learned small ways to communicate: shaking her head for “no,” or nodding for “yes.”

A pull meant “come,” and a push meant “go.” If she wanted her mother to make ice cream for dinner, she’d shiver and point to the freezer. Still, she remained frustrated and disconnected from the world at large. It felt like being on a ship, lost in fog with no compass. She later wrote that the wordless cry of her soul was, “Light, give me light!”

Helen and Annie

Young Helen Keller with Anne Sullivan

Years would pass before the answer came.

From her autobiography, she noted…

“The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Sullivan, came to me. The light of love shone on me in that very hour.”

For what was about to happen was a miracle.

 

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Life Rings

Life Rings

She firmly held a flaming torch. I could not see her face. Her head was hidden in a low cloud cover. But she had lowered her arm so the light would still shine.

Statue of LibertyI saw this image of the Statue of Liberty during a prayer time. A small group of my friends had gathered to ask God for encouragement, instruction or discernment. We spent time listening for single words, phrases, a symbolic picture, an impression, a Scripture brought to remembrance…there are many ways that God speaks.

Seeing the iconic effigy of freedom that way was curious. I pondered it for a while. Her head could symbolize our human minds—even our best thinking can get clouded. But her torch, the divine spark of freedom and equality, had not gone out though our country is experiencing difficult times.

BonoBono of U2 admonished students at Georgetown University to keep faith with the idea of America…“One of the greatest ideas of human history, right up there with the Renaissance. Right up there with crop rotation or the Beatles’ White Album.” He wasn’t really joking. He spoke reverently about the idea of equality, justice, the pursuit of happiness, and dignity. USA Constitution Parchment“This country,” he said, “was the first to claw its way out of darkness and put that on paper.” And I believe it was a God-given idea.

There is no other explanation.

So why would God show me an altered image of the Statue of Liberty compared to its present victorious stance on Ellis Island? Continue reading

Spirit Whispers – Part 2

Spirit Whispers – Part 2

A formerly homeless man was interviewed on TV. He explained how many different places in New York City he could get a hot meal, a shower with fresh clothes, and a bed for the night. All that, and more, was readily available. But he didn’t know how to escape homelessness and dependency—because his real poverty was within.

Homeless Series - No TrespassingMother Teresa said, “People are hungry for love, they are naked of human dignity and respect. They are homeless because of rejection.”

Yet, we live in a time where skeptics say, “Watch out—everybody’s working an angle.” Good people become cynical in a culture where they feel played. “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” (Jesus foretold in Matthew 24:12).

Talmadge Wright, a sociology professor at Loyola University Chicago said, “When you are desperate and poor, you will do anything to survive and prosper. Somehow we seem to hold a moral standard that says as long as you don’t scam and oppress others you are okay, but if you con others you are not okay. The point is…any poor population will have both tendencies happening at the same time. If you don’t like it, make it so they are not poor.”

So how do we respond to people on our streets or in the world at large for that matter?

spiritualThe apostle John said, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1John 3:17) Notice he did not say “give him stuff,” which includes money. That requires wisdom in each situation. The main point is to not close our hearts. At the very least, we can pause and pray.

Secondly, relationship may be the key—even if it’s relationship for a moment. Let me explain…

Picture 2009 169I remember strolling arm-in-arm with my two teenage daughters. While scoping out colleges in the northwest, we stopped in Seattle to shop for prom dresses. Talk about feeling privileged.

We came upon a man in a heavy brown overcoat, sitting on the curb. I’ll be honest—for a second, I considered crossing the street. Yet a still, small voice in my head urged me to go on.  He is also my son, the Holy Spirit whispered. A burning heat filled my chest.Continue reading