The magnetic pull of the divine

I like to think that we go to Church because of God's magnetic pull for us. One of the finest expressions of the divine attraction is in Psalm 139, where the Psalmist speaks of how he cannot by any means ignore the presence of God. For even if he were covered with darkness, the darkness would be as light as the day because of God's presence.

While we may often experience this magnetic pull of God, it is also true that much of the world (including ourselves) tend to be pulled away from God. And there are biblical examples of this phenomenon. Adam and Eve hide themselves in the bushes in the garden so God cannot find them. Since Genesis is the book of beginnings, the matter of fleeing from God is inherent in the human psyche.

There are many other examples: Jonah does not like God's sending him to Nineveh, so he flees and finds himself in the stomach of a whale.

The great Christian poet, Francis Thompson, describes the magnetic pull away from God before his conversion in a graphic way: "I fled him down the night and down the days; /I fled him down the labyrinthine ways./ Of my mind, and in the midst of tears/ I hid from him, and under running laughter,/From that strong pull, that followed, followed after."

Isn't it true-to-human life that we tend to flee him? But why, why is it that, on the other hand, in much of our personal experience there is an irresistible pull towards God?

Consider this phenomenon - that if other people have truly been attracted to the divine, and have found the deepest meaning for their lives, why should it not be the same for you and me?

One classic study of this phenomenon is related in the Book of Acts. You will recall that one of the first deacons of the early Church was Stephen. It seems that Stephen was not only a deacon who attended to the needs of the poor but a courageous evangelist who proclaimed Jesus in a hostile environment. He became so aggressive in his preaching that he earned the ire of the Jewish authorities. Eventually, he was brought to a place where they stoned him to death.

And according to the story, the clothes of those who stoned him were laid at the feet of one in the crowd - a prominent man named Saul. The view is that Saul was so deeply moved by the courage, the loyalty-to-death of Stephen that he himself was eventually won by the call of Christ through the martyrdom of Stephen.TO BE CONTINUED*

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