This is the sixth in a series of postings looking at the meaning of Isaiah 6 for today; it began (here).So, Isaiah had this incredible vision described in the first verses of Isaiah 6, which today shoves us to the boundaries of language and or the everyday world. In one way, it was a vision unique to one visionary, a vision the roots of which are now obscured by the passage of time. In another way, however, it is not all that unique. Visionaries have continued to have "peak experiences," as described by the American scholar-psychologist, Abraham Maslow. Pentecostal Christians, for example, experience trance-like states when they speak in tongues. Those who engage in various forms of meditation can have deeply mystical experiences as they meditate. Many individuals experience moments in nature when they feel transported to another plane of peace and joy, however briefly. They may not see visions as clear as Isaiah's, but these experiences can transform their lives, and at the very least give life a deeper sense of purpose and meaning.
Christians generally associate these moments with the Holy Spirit, and we recognize them as a gift of grace. In truth, there are many such Spirit-filled moments if we only have the wit to stop and see them. We stand at the side of the crib of our first-born and feel something that really can't be put into words. That's the Spirit. We sit on a dock in the quiet of the morning listening to birds and feeling the light touch of the breeze, and we feel something that touches us deeply and can't really be expressed in words. That's the Spirit. In our love of another, we sense the Spirit lurking deep below. In the insights we gain from a book or a conversation that are like suddenly seeing something we never saw before, there the Spirit is again. Lurking. Working. Calling us forward and beyond. That is all the work of the Spirit pulling us toward a deeper personal life and a future of peace and harmony that is and will be the Kingdom of God. Amen.
