Standing Close to the Power

Steve tells me that he has heard if you walk under a high voltage power line, carrying a fluorescent tube, that the static electricity in the air will power the tube, and it will light up. All because you are walking near the power source.

He also told me that someone told him (rumors abound) that if you carry the same "tube" under the nose cone of a fighter jet, that the tube will light up -- powered by the static from the instruments in the jet. All because you are walking near the power source.

Have you ever been near someone who was telling a joke who got so wrapped up in the funniness of what he was saying that all he can do is laugh? You sit there and laugh with him, because the laughter is contagious. You laugh -- even though you don't know the joke -- just because you are near the person who is laughing.

See a theme?

One of my favorite quotes, brought to my attention again by Jeff:

The place God calls you tois the place where your deep gladnessand the world's deep hunger meet.-- Frederick Buechner
I talked about spiritual gifts in a post a few weeks ago, and I mentioned that we discussed in class that you know when you are using your spiritual gifts for the edification of the body because you feel joyful and energized -- deep gladness -- a sense of RIGHTNESS. It happened again to me today while I was teaching Sunday school. Steve says that he can tell when it's happening because I am "in the groove."

I think these groovy moments -- when we feel deep gladness in using our gifts to meet the world's deep hunger -- are moments when we are closest to God.

Which brings me to a question. Why is it that we feel joyful? Why are we energized? I believe it is because we are created to do the will of God, but could there be more to it? I'm walking out on a limb with this theory -- I haven't thought it through all the way, and maybe this is too simplistic, but when does that ever stop me from writing about it?

If we believe that these moments when we are standing at the intersection of our deep joy and the world's deep need are when we are closest to God, and if we experience joy and energy -- rightness -- in these moments, then could it be that the source of the joy and energy is God? Are we standing so close to the power that it's God's joy in us that we're feeling? Could we be energized by God's energy? And do we feel the "rightness" of what we are doing because of God's approval?

Don't get me wrong -- I do think the joy is our joy and the energy comes from us, but could it also be God's joy we're feeling? God's energy that moves us?

Are we like the lightbulb, lit up because we are standing so close to the source of the power?