My
Search for God, or Vice Versa....
 |
Jesus
with his Disciples
|
God's
calling of the human spirit can be a series of steps. That's why we
call him “The Hound of Heaven”
<www.houndsofheaven.com/thepoem.htm>
as described in the famous poem by Francis Thompson, 1859-1907.
I
fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I
fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I
fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of
my own mind....
It's to
God's Glory that he relentlessly pursues us. At the age of eight, I
was the littlest altar boy. I bowed and touched my forehead all the
way to the first altar step as I clearly and piously recited the
Latin my father taught me.
"Introibo
ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam" (Ps
42:4). And I will go to the altar of God: to God who gives joy to my
youth.
At the
age of fourteen, I picked up an old Douay Rheims Bible and began
reading from Genesis. By the time I made it to Joshua, I prayed and
gave my life to the Lord. I found the Bible fascinating and
spiritually powerful.
At the
age of eighteen I enjoyed worshiping privately in my room near my
window with no one else knowing. I discovered “God's Grandeur”
<www.sparknotes.com/poetry/hopkins/section1.html> as
described by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1877).
The
world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Suddenly,
deep in prayer, I broke into a strange language with strange sounds.
I had no idea what this meant. I suppressed it, but many years later
I discovered it was the Holy Spirit's gift of tongues.
In our
early days of marriage and walking in the Lord, I remember my new
wife, Mary, experienced the frustrations of rote religion. She
strongly proclaimed to one Monsignor:
“There
has to be something more!”
She was
right, and God soon brought the Gift to us. As a
young couple, Mary's friend, a former coed from Syracuse University,
came to visit us on the first three days of the New Year, 1973. She
excitedly told us all about the Holy Spirit and the miracle working
power of Jesus in believers lives. We stayed up until 3:00 am each
night listening amazed in our living room to the wonderful wonders of
God.
This
young lady discovered I related to Jesus only as my friend. She
instructed me on the importance of Jesus' atoning sacrifice for my
sins. As I raised my arms to Heaven, this beautiful girl led me in
the prayer of salvation for repentance and trust in Jesus, not just
as my friend, but as my Savior.
“Lord
Jesus, I repent of all my sins and give myself to you, past, present,
and future.
I thank you for suffering on the Cross and shedding your
blood for me that I can belong to You and the Father, forever.”
My dear
wife, Mary, strongly insisted we visit a prayer meeting. She started
both of us on a path to receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit that
year. I'm so grateful to my wife for walking with me together as a
couple to seek the Glories of God.
“I
am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me” (John 14:6 NIV).
--Bill
Hunt
“The
Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you; The Lord lift his countenance upon you, And
give you peace” (Num 6:24-26).
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