Conversation with God in a campsite
Albert Bogle
August 14, 2019
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Genesis 15: 1-6 (NRSVA)
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ 2 But Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ 3 And Abram said, ‘You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.’ 4 But the word of the Lord came to him, ‘This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.’ 5 He brought him outside and said, ‘Look towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ 6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Here’s a question: is it possible to listen into a God conversation that is taking place over three thousand years ago; in someone else’s head; a vision from a past millennium, and to feel you are there? Let’s stretch the imagination further, is it possible for such a conversation to fast forward and connect with a 21st century stargazer? You decide.
Jack, a character we’ve been following this week, was sitting in a campsite with me. One of the vans on the site looked a bit like Dr Who’s Tardis…
Jack was star gazing thinking about the past. The disappointments he was living with and trying to sort out in his mind. He was thinking about the times when his pride stopped him from taking the easy way out.The times when he refused to become rich at another’s expense. The next thing I knew we were both in Abram vision. You know the man in the Bible? God was telling him not to give up, good times were on the way. In the vision Abram nodded, told God he believed and kept looking at the stars. The next thing I knew I was talking with Jack. He was still looking up into the stars intently. He never stopped looking at the stars. Still staring he said, “Is this a dream or is it reality, am I really nodding to God?” Later on, drinking coffee round the campfire trying to make sense of it all, Jack said, “One thing I know for sure, if God takes care of Abram’s problems and worries. I believe him when he says, Jack you’re going to be fine, I’ve got plans for you too.”
Prayer:
God of dreams and visions,
Reality and imagination
Creator of all things
Judge of all
Help us to be better conversationalists with you
Thank you for the ideas
The input into our brains
The stimulation of sight, sound and touch
Causing us to think
The connections that make pictures in our mind’s eye
The connections between fiction and reality
That help us understand
Truth and love
Justice and mercy
Faithfulness and trust
Help us to tune into you presence
To keep receiving
Your conversations
Even when they are above our heads
Thank you for your Holy Spirit
Interpreting and revealing
Visions and dreams
Songs and laughter
Words and longings
Causing us to believe and understand
O God thank you for your
Life affirming conversations
In the most unexpected places
With the least expected people
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