A Shot Glass of Truth
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A Shot Glass of Truth
When I was about eight years old, there were some burglaries in our neighborhood. Someone broke into our elderly neighbors’ home and robbed them while they slept. The next night, I leaned my Louisville Slugger against the wall near the head of my bed. I was prepared, confident that I could keep a burglar at bay, at least until my dad made it down the hall.
Then, well after midnight, a small sound from our kitchen broke the silence. I froze, completely motionless and straining to hear the tiniest noise over my pounding heartbeat. Then I heard it again. Though this time the sound of footsteps was clear… and they were getting closer. I forgot about my bat. In that moment, I think I forgot about everything on earth except the sound of footsteps coming down the hall.
As my bedroom door slowly opened, I felt anything but prepared. Sick. Dizzy. Terrified. But not prepared. That sense of security I had while peering at my baseball bat from my pillow was gone. I felt anything but safe as someone emerged from behind my door. Then he stepped into the room, my dad unable to sleep and checking on me. I remember two things about that moment. I was so relieved, and I was unable to speak.
It’s always interesting to me how many groups feel safe with their vastly different ideas of God.
The agnostics claim neither faith nor disbelief in God. They say they’re good with whatever.
The twelve step groups give each person the freedom to determine who or what is their higher power however one decides to do so.
Some live with this abiding sense that God simply exists in and throughout nature, simply expressing himself through natural beauty and phenomena.
Others suggest that God is some form of mental construct, living within us and acting as a sort of guide and/or conscience. One might think they’re referring to the Holy Spirit until you realize that’s their entire explanation of God.
Others think God is a mystical or metaphysical life-force offering power and peace that we can somehow tap through meditation.
Still others have a more Biblical sense of who God is, but they have leaned on their religion for security to the point that they don’t think God is present or approachable. They assume he’s left the building (earth) and may return centuries from now.
But what if the Bible is true?
What if their comfortable illusions are wrong?
What if he returns like a thief in the night?
What if he stands before them as the king, a lion, a shepherd, or the judge?
In that moment, we’ll forget everything but the Truth standing before us. We may feel many things - awe, gratitude, overwhelmed… but prepared will not be one of them. I suppose we’ll find our petty human adjectives completely inadequate. Surely, we’ll be awestruck beyond our vocabularies. I’m guessing that those of us most confident in our understanding of him will be most blown away. For perhaps as close as the Bible can get us in our anticipations of seeing the King of Kings and the Alpha and Omega, the human mind can hold no more than a shot glass of the oceans of his glory.
But what a difference a shot glass of Truth could make for our friends and family so comfortable without him.
