When Michael Bay Gets the Respect He Deserves... well kind of

 Voices in my head

    I wish people could hear the conversations in my head. I’m sure some of the conversations are quite humorous. I also try to imagine what my face is showing to a person who may be watching me in these moments. Based on what I know, I’m typically a blank stare kind of person, so I am probably not like J.D. from Scrubs where he has a daydreaming face.


    Yet, I imagine on the day I listened to a certain person talk about how they talk to God, my face probably showed some emotion. I often have these battles in my head where I’m discussing with God about some things. In this case, I will share how this conversation probably went.

    “Hey God, I know I should be listening but I have a question. You see, this person is talking about how they hear from you audibly when they are in a special place. I mean seriously, they keep going on about how you tell them what to do. I’m pretty sure, I’ve never had you speak to me like that before. Is there something wrong with me? What is special about this person? IS it because they are in this high position and they have multiple degrees? Is it because they don’t get distracted about things like how the Mets could make a trade in order to get back on track. Wait.. sorry God I did it again. Well, if you get the chance, I’d really love to hear you directly and not through other ways.


    I don’t know about you but I feel like I have this conversation like 10 times a year. It’s like I’m surprised every time I hear someone talk about how they heard this voice of God that has inspired them. Over time though, I figured out that sometimes people use this as a means to manipulate. It turns out, Christians can use the systems in place to convince others of things but that's not the point of me writing.

I'm hearing things

    I want to be clear, I’m not saying you can’t hear from God; actually it’s been done. I believe though that God doesn’t often have conversations like I would with a friend or my brothers. I believe there is a time and a place for that but I do believe he can speak through others, or a word, or even place thoughts in our heads.


    We can see this in the Bible as well. There were periods of time, where God just didn't talk to his people. I mean the Israelites were in the desert for 40 years and our boy Mo seems to only have the conversations recorded in the Bible with God. It’s not everyday. It might not even be every week.


    I’m sure there was silence and maybe even long periods of silence. I mean look at the years between the Old Testament and The New Testament. I don’t think God was silent but speaking to people in a different way. I think oftentimes, we think that God spoke to the biblical authors like all the time. I think we imagine them having conversations like people have on cell phones. Truth is, I think people of the Bible and us are more alike in how God speaks to us.


    Again, I want to emphasise that this isn’t saying God won’t speak to you audibly. My main point of this is to say, it’s okay if God doesn’t speak to you in that way. I believe the Holy Spirit (the 3rd part of the trinity) will “.... helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27 ESV).

    The Spirit will do work and speak even when we aren’t sure because the Spirit is one with the Father and Son (John 16:13-15). Deep down somewhere in our souls, the Spirit is at work. This doesn’t mean that you will hear the voice of God, which in my mind fluctuates between Liam Niessen and Morgan Freeman but rather embrace the silence because God is working. When He works, typically He eventually speaks to us. It might not be audible. It could be a thought, or a passage of scripture, or a song. Maybe rather than waiting for that audible voice, we should be listening to what’s around us. We should embrace that God uses his Creation to speak to us.

Michael Bay Revelation

    It makes me think of Bumblebee from Transformers. He used a car radio to speak to others. I like to think that sometimes God speaks to us in many different ways. He shuffles through the channels of the radio to speak, direct, and teach. He may speak audibly too. Yet, I think in the midst of waiting, we to embrace that God will meet us in the silence.


    This could all be complete nonsensical writing and I could be fully wrong. The fact of the matter is, I don’t think people need to carry such a heavy load or feel they aren’t “close” to God if they don’t have these ongoing conversations. The ongoing conversation happens in scripture. God is communicating to us his truth. God will communicate with us through prayer too. The fact is we need to be okay when God doesn’t seem to speak the way we think. Embrace the silence and wait on the Lord.

Reflection

 

Growing up

Time continues to fly by 

As the lines are roadmaps under my eyes 

All the trees I’ve climbed and corns stocks I’ve brushed 

As the hours passed on the clocks 

Where would I be without staying up late with friends

Watching movies and laughing until the night ends

All these memories, remind me of a time

When I believed the world was mine 

All these memories, of summer nights 

Kicking up dust on ball fields

Laughing at my brothers jokes 

As we sat at the dinner table 

When I look back at these times

I remember it well

Oh what a life I get to live 

Soda bottles and guitar amps 

Church basements to small galleries 

Playing songs inspired from nights of skateboards

And jokes at the expense of one another 

The callous fingers and blistered hands 

Casualties of a good time my friends 

All these memories, of beach trips 

All the Bogie boards and boardwalks 

My dad reading books and my mother on kayaks 

All these memories, of running through my high school halls

Because of a game inspired from my friend Tim 

I remember these times well

Oh what a life I get to live 

As I drive down Prince St, I still remember the coffee shops and art galleries 

I remember the times with friends and what we use to eat 

As the years go by, and my eyes earn another line below them 

I remember the gift of each day, and treasure each memory