A Revelation

I'm kind of a criminal.

At least when it comes to parking garages.

Please don't tell anyone, okay?

I park on the top floor of the parking garage at Western Michigan University so that I don't have to pay for a parking pass or buy a bunch of quarters that I would much rather be spending on gumballs or shiny stickers or  bouncy balls on my way out the door at Meijer.

There, I said it.

Not only is it cost efficient, but I also get the opportunity to run down three flights of stairs and stretch my legs between hours of playing the piano. While I was making that little jaunt this morning, I saw two birds. (Side Note: A few weeks ago I discovered one of their kin lying dead in the stairwell, and now I know why.)

The birds thought that they were stuck. They kept throwing themselves against the glass panes of parking garage wall, stopping every few seconds to gaze longingly at the world that they couldn't reach. No matter how hard they hit the window, nothing changed. Then, just as I was about to leave them in their captive misery, they stopped trying. They both sat on their windowsills and looked out, their countenance completely changed. Suddenly, they were both content to watch everything that was going on around them and not participate in it anymore. It seemed like they had just given up.

As I gave up my newfound hobby of birdwatching and headed to the voice lesson I was playing for, I thought about how much those birds reminded me of my old self and the way I used to treat spiritual growth.

"Wow, there's a whole world out there to explore!" I would say with excitement. But then I'd hit a wall, assume there was nowhere else to go, and, with a shrug of my shoulders, declare that I was "done for now." After all, I knew more that those "Sundays only" Christians already. And, for awhile, that was enough.

But all it takes is one revelation- one person telling us that there's a whole world beyond that glass wall, and that no amount of throwing ourselves against it will get us out there. In order to discover it, we'll need to discover the only One who can lead us out of the spiritual cage we're in and into the adventure of exploring His glorious Kingdom.

"Circle Zion, take her measure, count her fortress peaks, gaze long at her sloping bulwark, climb her citadel heights— Then you can tell the next generation detail by detail the story of God, our God forever, who guides us till the end of time." Psalm 48:12-14