Lent day 24

greetings!

i love road trips...

like the one this afternoon from tampa to ft pierce...

why?

the open road...

driving in a rainstorm...

i love rain and wind [and lightning and thunder]...

listening to brian preach for awhile...

listening to worship music for awhile...

miles and miles of confessing my sins [ha! ha! -- the drive to ft pierce is not that long for me to get my confession in]...

knowing i am getting close to my destination when i am in range of way-fm in palm beach county...

my favorite station...

SILENCE...

long periods of silence...

solitude...

conversations with myself...

and with god...

then a phone call as a special blessing tonight from yee haw to vero beach...

it was a kairos moment...

a word from the lord for me...

about trusting my spiritual "gut" and not just my brain...

did you know that there are just as many neurotransmitters in the gut...

as there are in the brain???

the hebrews knew it...

easterners know it...

they trust their "gut"...

a place to hear and "feel" god...

a deeper knowing in one's "knower"...

greeks opted for the brain...

westerners focus on the mind and logic...

the christian faith seems to have been hijacked along the way...

what was once a faith of the "gut"...

became a religion of the brain...

i am convinced we lost much in this unfortunate transition...

so tonight...

i went internal...

into my gut...

asking the holy spirit to fill me and overflow me...

i asked for "rivers of living water to gush out of me"...

and keep gushing...

in my youth, i was ashamed of my pentecostal roots...

so many kooks...

granolas [fruits, flakes and nuts]...

church was just plain weird at times...

so i rejected the gut and pursued the mind...

and kept pursuing the mind...

i wanted a reasoned faith...

something respectable...

BUT, there was [and is] something authentically real to the gutteral realities of my pentecostal roots...

maybe i had to become a presbyterian in order to feel at home as a pentecostal...

i do know that the cold cerebralism of presbyterianism is death...

and a quite painful one at that...

i want the life of the gut...

of the spirit...

and, i can have that fullness without the freakishness of pentecostalism on bad religious steroids...

i want the reality...

not some tired and worn out tradition...

by the way, i love presbyterians and pentecostals -- just making a point for me...

so what happened tonight???

i was a little shocked...

something in my gut broke loose during our prayer on the phone...

yes i was watching and praying -- no wrecks...

tears burst forth...

a prayer language poured out...

peace invaded my spirit [that had been in turmoil for hours as i had tried to get out of tampa]...

i felt courage for the opportunity of the weekend at ft pierce...

i felt "warm" within...

so cool...

i am asking god to empower me to follow him...

with all my gut...

and with all my mind...

and with compassionate and serving hands...

what about you???

i am in ft pierce now...

i can see the water from my hotel room...

wish nancy was here...

and jeep...

i did figure out how to connect with the internet...

bet you are surprised...

jamming to way-fm...

relaxing on the balcony...

watching the night lights glimmer on the intercoastal...

yea god!

goodnight...

guy

nancy and josh -- please give jeep a BIG HUG for me...