RUSH

Ah, the wonderful duality that some words have in the English language. Rush is haste and it is also an emotional high. Both are significant to some degree in life. How we cope with them differs and there is no single rule or advice that fits all situations.

Rush is the moment extreme that is felt in the veins and riddles our senses with an intensity like no other experience. It can be good as in a feeling of euphoria or bad as in a paralyzing sense of fear.

All of this is of course mainly related to this life and our experiences. On a spiritual level one does have battles and moments extreme, but I think often they never last quite as long as with those that intrude upon our body and emotions.

However with the spiritual realm a rush to the soul can be so overwhelming as with a born again or conversion experience that it truly stays fresh in your mind forever. And sometimes a person can sit and relive that moment with vivid detail.

But is it beneficial to crave the sweet rush from some spiritual moment? It might appear to be a thing of value, but there are dangers with that kind of approach. For it can be a risk to use the spiritual realm as a form of opiate for the soul. Some don't even appreciate when their approach has that ulterior motive.

How do we keep any balance to the issue of rush? Well I can only speak for myself, but I think it is to not crave such experience, but to instead let it happen naturally. By that I mean we don't go looking for rays from heaven and seeing them in our mind whether they are there or not.

Instead, it is to walk the path of faith, keep one's eyes on the path and our Lord and be receptive for the times the rush does come. Trying to force such moments gives it an artificial element. When that is the focus one can so easily invent reality without it actually having merit.

Seeing angels or claiming that you have when you imagined them might impress some, but does it really cure the ills of the soul? I recall listening to this one celebrity once speaking about how God had spoken to him audibly. He made it sound like it was the kind of event that could happen to anyone if you just had enough faith.

I know God can speak to us in many ways, including audibly if he desires. But I think also he gave us his word so he didn't need to give us that kind of communication all the time.

Only simply relying upon the scripture is not enough for some people I guess. They seek a more dramatic form of rush. Personally, I am thrilled whenever I feel the Lord's presence in what I'm doing.

That is enough rush for me most of the time. And as long as I am carried more by the winds of faith than of pure invention I know the rush I experience is the one God intends for my life.