God of the ipod shuffle

I’ve heard all my life that God speaks in a still, small voice to the especially pious, the people who are spiritual enough to hear Him. I’ve also heard that God speaks the clearest between the pages of the Bible. The Scriptures are a love letter from God.

But honestly, sometimes 2 Chronicles doesn’t quite do it for me like Wroth’s Sonnet 22. I mean, would you rather read about the Israelites and the Crazy-Name-ickites or read a poem about a woman so heartsick over a man that she’s willing to stand in the sun until her skin burns off just to get him to return her love?

Ok, maybe you’re thinking “neither”. But the point is I started really getting concerned about this. I mean, what do I do when I enjoy reading Astrophil and Stella more than the Bible? Or, the even more disconcerting question, why do I feel like God speaks to me in Percey Shelley’s “Defense of Poetry” more than he does when I’m listening to a church sermon?

Is it possible that God uses more channels of communication than the conventional “church channels” (the Bible, sermons, prayer)? Does God speak through long-dead poets, sci-fi movies, sunsets, and mid 80′s love ballads?

Honestly, that’s how God and I have been talking lately. And I’ve decided that I don’t care if it’s considered wierd or sacreligious. I serve a big God and I’m grateful and delighted by whatever means He uses to communicate with me. Actually, when God sneaks into the places that I don’t expect him to be, like my ipod, or my English anthology, it really makes life more interesting. One minute, I can be running and listening to Heart, and feeling kind of down on life, and the next minute God is crooning through my headphones “How do I get you aloooonee?”. A cheesy 80s song transformed into God pursuing me, God standing in the sun, hoping that I will return his love.