Why Not Me?

As I read thru 1 Samuel today I noticed a few interesting topics for thought. 

The first is in Ch. 3 v1... "And the word of the Lord was precious those days; there were no open visions."

Which made me wonder, why is having visions not an accepted practice in today's society? Moreover, if it were, would we think of those people who had them as freaks, witches, or crazy people? If a woman walked into her local church right now and told everyone she had a vision from God that the there would be an attack on a school or store. How would we react to her? I think the people of that church would disregard her, as a raving loony and she would become the laughing stock of her town. What if I man claimed to hear the voice of God telling him to do things? We would have him locked up faster then he could say, "it's true." (Unless that man was Steve Jobs and God was telling him to give away free Ipads). 

It seems like whenever we get a sign from people that there might be a God, our first inclination is to shoot them down. Now, I would expect that kind of reaction from an Atheist. But what about the Christians, Catholics and Muslims? Should they be more willing to listen? To believe. After reading Samuel and many other stories in the bible it would seem that if you are a believer in God, it’s almost your duty to be accepting of the things that appear not so normal or a bit strange. After all, supernatural abilities or powers are a part of the things Jesus said we possess.  Jesus told Peter he had the ability to walk on water... but first you must believe. (paraphrasing of course)

So, what has happened? Where has the belief of those who claim to be the believers gone? I remember reading about all the Christian parents who protested against the HARRY POTTER serious claiming it to it be evil and a promoter of witchcraft. This wasn’t just one or two isolated incidents; this was millions of Christian/Catholic parents from New York to New Zealand. I mean Harry Potter has nowhere as many stories of people doing magic (witchcraft) as the Bible does. The Old and New Testament are filled with people doing supernatural feats, stuff that makes Potter look like Samantha from 'Bewitch'. 

Why shouldn’t kids be encouraged to believe within themselves? Why not expose kids to the idea that we as spiritual beings have an ability to do extraordinary things: Things that most men and women may not understand or believe in, but great powerful things all the same. 

Could it be that the reason "there were no open visions", was because people stopped believing in what we are truly capable of, so God stopped channeling through us. He stopped empowering us with great abilities, cause much like dumb children with a sophisticated toy, we proved to inept to use them let alone understand them. On the other hand, maybe we became so busy with the idea of ‘having to know or understand’ how every thing works, that we forgot the importance of actually doing things. 

"Sometimes you have to do something first to know how it works." 

  ---Herbert Hunt (my grandfather who told me that once when I was reading about how to play the guitar)

Well, that was a lot longer than what I expected to write. I guess I will hold on to the other two things for another time. 

However, today I ask all of you to take a pledge with me. A pledge to not be afraid to believe. To believe in what is in your heart and in your spirit. To believe in what, I think, are the gifts and talents that were given to us from God long ago. Gifts we still possess, which are just waiting to be opened. 

Maybe God is speaking to you or me right now. Maybe we can do things we thought or were told were impossible. What if walking on water was just the beginning? 

What's stopping you from do it? What's stopping me? Today I will do something extraordinary... today I will believe.