Sobremesa xxii.
RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP - a novel published in 1955, made into a movie in 1958. It’s a story about naval warfare on a submarine in the Pacific during World War II.
I love the title. It works great for a blog, too… only this one’s not about submarines.
Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence,…, to take refuge in nature,…, or in the Wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Pantheon Books, 1958. P. 139.
I’m not quiet enough… nor do I go deep enough. There’s an intimacy our Savior invites us to participate in. Communion with him is about communing with him. And communing is a two way street. Embarrassing irony… do I ask for prayer more than I actually pray?
I understand why God and his Word often go unheeded… maybe I don’t really want to hear what he wants from me. If I don’t ask, then maybe he won’t tell. That way it would look more like an oversight on my part and less like what it is... willful inattention and rank disobedience.
Run-silent-run-deep is a healthy reminder about how I should approach my times with the Lord. I could call it my gateway drug. It’s what introduces me to bigger and better things. Quietness allows me to hear better than while I’m talking or answering a text message. How can I answer God if I haven’t heard his questions?
Centeredness, calm, focus, compassion, moving from Bible Study to Bible Doing, decisiveness when presented with opportunities for Gospel kingdom work—even in far off lands... even when it means a lifelong commitment for the whole family… is all generated by the work of the Holy Spirit. Nurtured in silence… cultivated in our deepest depths.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! (Romans 11:33, ESV)
These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10, ESV)
Out of these depths should emerge thoughts and emotions that give me away… something like the way the face of Moses shone after his visit with God on Mt. Sinai… or like the disciples, Peter and John…
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John,…, they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13, ESV)
SOBREMESA (after-meal-coffee-and-table-talk)
I experience genuineness, calm, and centeredness when I run-silent-run-deep— in my alone times with Jesus.
I will have opportunities to demonstrate these qualities before others. It will work best in small, intimate settings. At close range, if things go as they should, others will discover I don’t have a halo. They will marvel with me at the paradox of finding treasure in a fragile, clay pot—Jesus the Perfect One living in Greg the Exact Opposite.
Thank the Lord for sobremesa times!
If someone comes away with a desire for more in their own hearts, I will rejoice and give God the glory. There is peace in knowing I can relax. In the end, I don’t reveal Jesus to others… Jesus reveals himself to others through me.
…no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matthew 11:27, ESV)