winds of heaven... stuff of earth

Today in A Year with the Church Fathers, we hear from St John Cassian again, and once more he's talking to us about gluttony. But he tells us something interesting about it. He compares our spiritual lives to a soaring eagle. And he says the eagle is able to fly over mountains and all over the world, but only has to come down in order to eat. The eagle's belly brings him down, so to speak.

And we see his point. But I think it's interesting for us to contemplate the incarnated souls that we are. This is not to say that we are souls who happen to walk around in bodies. We ARE our bodies, and our souls too. And so yes, St John is right in warning us not to fall into gluttony, and be led astray by our stomachs. On the other hand, we should see how God meets us in the needs and satisfactions of the flesh. He made us this way, and called it good. We should find that goodness in everything we do.

The best spiritual writers, I think, help us find that interaction of dirty, smelly physical life, and mystical, soaring, life of the spirit. Rich Mullins was such a writer. This past weekend, I was fortunate to go to a concert in Nashville where Andrew Peterson, the lead singer of Sixpence None the Richer, some guys from Caedmon's Call, Mitch McVicker, and Amy Grant paid tribute to the genius of Rich Mullins, who sang so well of the winds of heaven among the stuff of earth, and who taught us so beautifully how God loves us here in America.

Frederick Buechner is another such writer, who finds the beauty in the beast, here in the stories we find ourselves acting in with or without our intention. He teaches us to "listen to our lives" and hear how God speaks to us, even in the food we eat, the sleep we need, and even in visiting the restroom. God is everywhere, Mr. Buechner tells us, as long as we listen for Him. The "clack-clack" of a tree branch smacking another branch can speak volumes into our souls, if we only listen.

So let's listen. Let's find how He's speaking to us right here, right now, on September 27, 2017. Hugh Hefner died today. How is He speaking to us in that? What does eternity look like for each of us sinners in need of a savior, just like Mr. Hefner?

God, please speak to us in this moment, and give us the grace to listen.