God's Nudges, Prompts and Reminders "Dear God, How come you did all those miracles in the old days and don't do any now?" were the words of a child called Billy, one of three that I quoted in my opening words. Amusing but insightful, yet these words are based on a very important premise. What is that premise? Is it that children know something we don't because of their perceived 'innocence'? Is this a case of 'out of the mouths of babes' etc.? This may be, but that is not what I want to point out today because there is something else that these three child comments are showing me. And what is that? It is that we can talk to god. Is it true we can talk directly to God? Of course it is! But there is something even more important to be gained from these child requests. There is the deeper understanding that god will or can answer. It is possible to ask and receive an answer, and if not an answer, certainly an individual response, from god. I wonder, how many of us here today have received a direct spoken answer from god? How many have heard god and are certain that it was god talking? I would guess, not many. For myself I am certain of it on only one occasion, and one other that I think probably was. I wonder how common this is? My guess, and it a guess, is that spoken communication from god is quite uncommon. It is my contention today that god really does communicate with us frequently. All of us. But the problem is that we don't recognise it for what it is. The bible is full of examples of god talking to us humans. And I can almost hear you thinking, 'but these were special people though.' Meaning of course that god only talks to special people. Now that contention I don't believe because it is not my experience. I am not special, or at least no more special than anyone else, because I am certain that we are all special. Yes. My contention is that god communicates with us frequently. That god is doing this on a daily basis.... and we ignore it. Not, I hasten to add, that this is a conscious act, it isn't. It is, perhaps, because we have forgotten what we 'knew' as children, that god does speak to us. It is perhaps, that we are not even aware that this communication is even a possibility. Our ears are deaf and our eyes are blind to god because we haven't accepted that god can, wants and does really communicate with us....or would or could even want to. Most people, I think, don't accept that god is trying to establish communication with us all of the time. Most of us are not aware of this reality, or even that it is a possibility. However, God does speak to us, but not always with the spoken word. God speaks to us in many different ways on a daily and continuing basis but we don't recognise it as being true or even possible. So how is this possible? How could so many good people have missed the possibility that this is a reality? God does speak to us. God does communicate with us. Our brain is unaware, our eyes are blind, our ears are deaf and no one reminds us that this situation is really true. Wake up. Be aware. Know it, feel it and listen to it. It is totally true that god is constantly trying to communicate with us. So what is going on? How can we (but especially I) have ignored this barrage of communication from god? How would I even recognise this level of god communication? What can I do about it to make it more likely an event in my life? The bottom line is that I can only speak about what has happened to me and also whether this has been reflected in the experience of Lynn, my wife, because we share our thoughts and experiences. No, our experiences are not the same but there is a level of commonality in our experiences. Perhaps it is because of this sharing that I/we have come to accept that god speaks to us. So I am going to share with you what I have come to understand about god's nudges, prompts and reminders that seem to have brought me to a continuing development and 'understanding' concerning how things really are. I think that it might be profitable to share some of my experiences so that you might share some of yours and through this process reach a greater understanding and recognition of god's communication with all of us. By doing this I feel that such 'god' communication would be likely to be recognised more often, for what it really is. God really does want to communicate to/with us. Over the past year or two I have recognised a phrase, sentence or a number of passages in books I have been reading, as being a nudge or prompt for me. Of course, it is probably aimed at others reading these books as well as myself, but I know that I have received it. When I read these, I experience an 'A-ha moment', a recognition of the 'teaching' and a 'lifting of spirit' from within me which brings a physical smile to my face. Almost every novel that I read over this time has had something in it to affect me. In these experiences I have noticed god's 'hand' must also have been nudging the authors, who are deep in their creative muse, to use certain words or phrases rather than others. I wouldn't think that any of these writers have any conception of this teaching effect of their writing. Let me give you one or two examples. In a book called 'Dissolution', a historical novel by C.J. Sansom, I found a character describing a spiritual experience earlier in his life: "I felt that if the Church would not have me I had nowhere to go, I was alone. And then, as I sat there in the dusk, Christ spoke to me. That is what happened, so there is no other way to put it. I heard a voice inside my head. It came from inside me but was not mine. 'You are not alone,' it said and suddenly, a great warmth, a sense of love and peace, infused my being. I do not know how long I sat there, breathing deeply, but that moment transformed my life. Christ himself had comforted me against the words of the Church that was supposed to be his. I had never heard that voice before, and though I hoped, as I knelt praying that night and in later weeks and years, that I would hear it again, I never have. But perhaps once in a lifetime is all we are given. Many are not given even that." In the western novel "Jubal Sacket" by Louis L'Amour comes.... "It is not enough to do, one must become..." In the much earlier western novel called "The Call of the Canyon" Zane Grey wrote: "It struck her strangely that to know the real truth might require infinite experience and understanding." And in Richard Cowper's science fiction novel, "Breakthough" are two passages: "There's a Muslim proverb that says 'If a man knows, yet knows not that he knows: he's asleep - wake him'" and the longer passage concerning the understanding of a poem: "At that moment I swear I knew what it was all about - not just that particular poem but life, art, the lot. And then it was gone. It was though by the act of transferring my attention to something outside myself I had dropped my guard, I sensed that something had happened".. The response was dramatic in its suddenness - an answering sense of affirmation. No sound, no imagined voice no mental picture, just the pure conviction itself..." I find it interesting that the publishing dates of these novels, between them, span nearly 100 years of time and such novels have been "pushing my buttons with regularity. Remember, the bottom line is that the text causes an 'inner' smile to arise within. Books have not been the only sources of the inner smile. Some while ago my wife received a pacemaker. As we came out of the hospital we were faced with a beautiful large complete rainbow. It was enough to make us smile. We have always liked rainbows but this seemed like it was a sign because no matter which way we faced on the drive home together the rainbow remained fixed in front of us. To my knowledge rainbows do not change their position in the sky to that degree unless we and the sun keep in sync with each other. The sun must always be behind and the rain must always be falling somewhere in front of you in order for a rainbow to be observed. The total 'lift' and conviction, while experiencing this rainbow and the inner message of 'everything is all right', was striking and the effect profound. Every rainbow that we have seen since has repeated, at a lesser intensity, the message. Rainbows remain special to us. Life is full of decision making. It is demanded of us all many times on a daily basis. I am astounded that Lynn and myself always, now, make important decisions these days, not by working out the pros and cons of the situation that has to be decided about, but on the basis of the 'answer' which feels right. And that the product of this process is always right. It still amazes me! So what feels right? Well it's those thoughts that, when they surface or 'ping' into our head, bring with them a feeling of warmth and comfort, a feeling of 'rightness'. It is about recognising the truth. It is about letting the action, issue, problem go and 'knowing' that everything is right. But special to us are those answers that make us smile and continue to make us smile long after the action, issue, problem has been resolved. And then there is the 'beauty factor'. More and more in our world we have come to see beauty even in the most unlikely places. Beauty can be experienced everywhere and at any time. It is not an intellectual activity, far from it. That is because beauty really is everywhere, as likely in a pile of rubbish as in a famous painting. It is also in the look of an eye, a touch of a hand, an aroma - nasty or delightful, the word spoken or a feeling felt. Beauty is in the smile and the tear. It is in the hurricane and the drought. It is the acceptance of what is and cannot be changed and it is in the old and the young, the new and the ancient. Beauty is everywhere. And always with it comes the smile rising up from within. Be open to it. Recognise it for what it is - a nudge from god. I could go on and on giving more and more examples of god's nudges, prompts and reminders. Suffice it to say, however, that we first need to 'know' that god wants to communicate with us. Then we need to 'know' that it is quite possible for god to do this. And thirdly we need to be open to this happening in our lives but lastly, ah.... lastly, look for the smile that rises from within. Gods nudges, prompts and reminders always bring a lifting of the spirit and a smile to the heart and a grin to the face. Aren't these things miracles? Joe Potter  27/09/2009