From Trickles to Waterfalls

From Trickles to Waterfalls

She still remembered what she saw as tiny toddler.

“I had caught glimpses of broad, green fields, a luminous sky, trees and flowers which the darkness that followed could not blot out. If we have once seen, the day is ours.”

Many of you have heard of Helen Keller. Born in 1880, she was a normal and happy little girl from a small Alabama town. She could see and hear perfectly.

Helen as a girlHowever, before she turned two, the high fevers associated with meningitis made her blind and deaf. The sudden darkness and silence felt utterly nightmarish. She clung to her mother’s dress and had many tantrums from confusion and despair.

Months would pass.

Eventually she started to understand what was going on, using her hands to touch every object. She learned small ways to communicate: shaking her head for “no,” or nodding for “yes.”

A pull meant “come,” and a push meant “go.” If she wanted her mother to make ice cream for dinner, she’d shiver and point to the freezer. Still, she remained frustrated and disconnected from the world at large. It felt like being on a ship, lost in fog with no compass. She later wrote that the wordless cry of her soul was, “Light, give me light!”

Helen and Annie

Young Helen Keller with Anne Sullivan

Years would pass before the answer came.

From her autobiography, she noted…

“The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Sullivan, came to me. The light of love shone on me in that very hour.”

For what was about to happen was a miracle.

 

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The Tone of God’s Voice

The Tone of God’s Voice

“Her thoughts at the meeting today were critical!” he texted.

What’s that supposed to mean? Were her words were extremely important, or shockingly negative?

Everyone knows how a text message or an email can be misunderstood because we miss the tone in someone’s voice. The same set of words can be said with appreciation or hostility. Tone is vitally important, because as Don Miller said, there are always two conversations going on—the one with words, and the one that reveals feelings. The latter makes all the difference.

How can we better understand the tone of God’s voice if all we have is the Bible? Like a text or an email, what if we get it wrong? What if we experience a boatload of condemnation when reading the Old Testament? Or how about Paul’s statements concerning women: were they condescending or matter-of-fact, and would knowing his tone of voice change our perception? And ultimately, if God is the Author of all Scripture, how can we go beyond the printed words to experience His heart?

Well for one thing, that’s why God came in person. Jesus’s earthly life gave us a deeper look at the heart of God. He could’ve come in His glory as “the King of kings.” Instead He entered the normal way, as a baby, making Himself accessible to ordinary people. He entered the fray, ignoring all kinds of personal-space rules…speaking to the woman at the well, welcoming little children, and touching unclean lepers. He let doubting Thomas feel His nail-pierced hands and honored a prostitute who bathed His feet in perfume.

He even washed feet.

In short—Jesus was completely approachable. Actions help convey the spirit and tone of someone’s words.

Still, there has to be more. Continue reading