Spirituality is...A Blind Date

"Most of us don't know where to start with God.  We've got a lot of excess baggage and "God as Told To Us By" and it can feel an awful lot like a blind date.  The trick with God, just like blind dates, is to suit up and show up. Who knows?  God might turn out to be someone you really like. Somebody you can actually talk to and go salsa dancing with. Somebody who gets your jokes.  The point is that until you try to meet God, you aren't going to know."                                                                                     Some Say God is No Laughing Matter by Julia Cameron

This morning I had a chance to have breakfast with some folks from my church I admire very much. We share a common faith in Christ, a love for all kinds of music, and a fondness for dry, cranky humor. However, in some ways, we are very different. They were raised steady and solid, lived in the same area most or all of their lives, and have an internal sense of who God is that would leads me to believe they have known God since childhood. They are raising their daughter in the church with the same solid sense of God's presence they reflect in their service and dedication.

I, on the other hand, came from a chaotic mixture of people and places where I learned to accept and appreciate different kinds of folks, but I wasn't taught anything about God.  I didn't' meet God until I graduated from high school, and when I did it was definitely a blind date. Fortunately,  that date led to a series of experiences culminating in a life given, a life received and a journey shared.  I wondered today, not for the first time, if my faith, my hope, my joyous relationship with beloved God - would be different had God and I started out sooner or if I began on more solid ground. When I asked God the question, I got a question in return. The conversation went like this:

Me:  God, wouldn't it have been better if I had known you from the start?
God:  What?  And give up our blind date?

There's something courageous, and entrancing, about sitting at the table waiting for God to walk through the door.  Even people who are raised in faith can usually point to a time when they transitioned from the God they were taught about in Sunday School to the God who invited them to dinner years later - the God who laughed with their joy during the appetizer or cried with them over their pain while the entree was being served, the God who encouraged them to order dessert, the God who paid the bill.  Ultimately for anyone to to get to know God, they must commit themselves to experience a blind date, and then take the next step - the trust to open our eyes and see.

"But everything is going so well..."

 The God who made us knows us, and longs to be with us -- so you wouldn't think it would be so hard to open up and reveal our honest thoughts and questions. And yet, particularly for those raised with a God more interested in punishing sinners than embracing souls, it can be the challenge of a lifetime.  If we have set ourselves on a course to have a blind date with God - we clearly desire to be with God -- so you wouldn't think it would be so hard for God to talk to us.  And yet, particularly for people who are too busy or too frightened to hear anything other than what they already believe, God is challenged to get through our defenses or distractions with a great message of grace and gifts.

Social science tells us we get what we expect.  So if we go on a date with God, we will pretty much expect what we were told by others who have shared the table.  Some people expect a God who shows up late, annoyed and instantly blames you for giving bad directions or choosing the wrong table. Some people expect a God who shows up with flowers and candy but spends the whole night wanting to hear you talk about how fantastic God happens to be. Some people bring a list, hoping God will open up a wallet and leave a huge tip without asking too many questions or insisting on a steady relationship. And, sadly, some people wait at the table as the candlelight grows dim, not really expecting God to show up at all.

Spirituality begins as a truly blind date and expects the God who is unexpected.  The God who breaks into a song at the table, or the God who moves the plates and puts down a map to show you some exotic place or unforeseen calling is the God who will show up if we allow it. I think one of the reasons Jesus acts so unpredictably throughout the gospels is to help his disciples understand the daily trust walk of following Christ meant you didn't always know what was going to happen, but you knew God was changing something, someone or some path.

Of course, all lasting relationships must eventually pass through the dating stage and become steady, hopeful, and directional. Yet, anyone who has been in a long term love will tell you that couples who are the strongest still manage to date quite frequently, and enjoy unexpected adventures along with daily bread.  But in order to get to that journey of an honest everyday life with God - no matter if you've known about God forever or for a day - you must be willing to "suit up and show up" for the date.

Would I give up my blind date with God? Never!
Would you?