When we who are disciples of the Spirit, seekers after an experience with God and the Divine, resonate to a Word of Scripture, it is like a bell gonging - it tells us that a moment of insight is here for us.
"Taste and see," was the message that impacted me today, and it issues a new challenge for spiritual disciples - and disciples-to-be - about how to see our relationship to the Divine in the middle of daily life and also, how to understand the difficulty of this insight.
Consider what is in store with such an invitation - it is an awesome prospect, and not for the faint!
At the same time, we want to consider that there are substantial obstacles to yielding to this invitation. We want to address and overcome these obstacles - and in the end, encourage others.
Still, what my heart hears, and my own call to you is to push through to this 'new life,' as it is called.
Push through to taste and see how this life experience, how this approach delivers better than the many other offers on view today - the motivational speaker, mega-church, extreme-fitness, personal gurus and lifestyle coaches and reality show experts, always-on, always competing, dog-eat-dog and me-first experiences today.
Taste and see the foundational and balancing strength experiencing the Divine gives, shaping our approach to everything else in our lives lived today.
My call is for you to take this on - taste and see. This is our first charge.
"Taste and see," was the message that impacted me today, and it issues a new challenge for spiritual disciples - and disciples-to-be - about how to see our relationship to the Divine in the middle of daily life and also, how to understand the difficulty of this insight.
Taste ye and see that Jehovah is good, O the happiness of the man who trusteth in Him. (Young's Literal Translation, Psalm 34:8 )
A simple verse, yet with profound resonances. They echo from other passages in the prophets and in the letters. The verses dialogue back and forth about what it means, the call to this tasting and seeing experience.
Echoed In other Psalms,
- My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness
- my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips
In the prophet Jeremiah,
- my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
In the letter to the Hebrews,
- those who were once enlightened... have tasted of the heavenly gift, and [have been] partakers of the Holy Ghost,
- have tasted the good word of God,
In the first letter of John,
- That which was from the beginning (Jesus, eternal Son of God), which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled
A Vital Experience
The experience being spoken of (1) boldly calls us - it is a command that compels us in sensory, concrete, unambiguous ways; (2) it calls us to something intimate, visceral, and transformative - the lived encounter with Divine Being, proving encounters with Him, revealing who He is, and (3) it calls us to a real, whole-being experience - tasting and seeing and reacting to the details of that experience.
Consider what is in store with such an invitation - it is an awesome prospect, and not for the faint!
At the same time, we want to consider that there are substantial obstacles to yielding to this invitation. We want to address and overcome these obstacles - and in the end, encourage others.
- The call implies that requests will be made, perhaps demands
- The call begs the question of authority: who is calling? What is the right being enacted to demand our attention in this way?
- The promise seems too much, too good to invest in
- So, the call can be perceived as unrealistic, maybe not believable, and therefore something to be disregarded
- The cost may appear too high in light of its radical presuppositions about our yielding
True Community
Push through to taste and see how this life experience, how this approach delivers better than the many other offers on view today - the motivational speaker, mega-church, extreme-fitness, personal gurus and lifestyle coaches and reality show experts, always-on, always competing, dog-eat-dog and me-first experiences today.
Taste and see the foundational and balancing strength experiencing the Divine gives, shaping our approach to everything else in our lives lived today.
My call is for you to take this on - taste and see. This is our first charge.
