God saying "hello"

Currently Listening To: Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Rich Mullins, in his song,"Elijah" states: "I wanna hear some music once again, 'cause it's the finest thing I've ever found." After reading John's last post, it brought to mind several songs that I think will always speak directly to the inner-most places of my heart and reminded me of how music is definitely one of the greatest things in the world.

I have to commute about 45 minutes or so each day to work. I managed to find a couple people to carpool with to work. With 45 minutes of driving, we have lots of conversations. Today, the talk happened to dance lightly around the subject of faith.

What brought it to this point was a Tom Petty song (Learnin' to Fly) that queued up on my cd player.

A discussion about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ensued. At some point, I randomly stated "I will never, EVER put 'Free Fallin' " on cd."

"why?" my carpool-ee asks

"Because, there are things in my life that I think God uses to communicate to me the importance of that particular moment. Whenever "Free Fallin' " comes onto the radio, I know deep inside that God is telling me 'Notice this moment. I'm here. I love you. It's all going to be okay.' It's like God uses that song to say 'Hello' to me in a very Cary way. There are other things He uses to do that as well--a few other songs (American Pie is another example), small whirlwinds full of leaves that are here and gone in moments. These things just remind me to appreciate each moment."

After this there was a slight awkward silence in the car. I really don't know how "religous" my carpool-mates are, but I am grateful for the opportunity to share my faith in kind of a side-ways method. A few light comments were made and the conversation moved on.

These moments I brought up in the carpool are far and few between, since little whirlwinds don't pop up that often and I never listen to the radio. But I can distinctly remember each of these times in my mind.

I've been a Christian long enough that I can't even really imagine not knowing that I've got this personal God that enjoys meeting me exactly where I'm at and meeting me at my level. We've got a God that likes to stoop down and simply say 'Hello'. That, to me, is one of the most wonderful and mysterioius things about our faith. And that's the faith I like to share with others. The loving, personal, freeing God who loves us as we are and doesn't sit in condemnation but simply draws us closer and closer to Him in whatever way we need at that moment.

Peace, folks.