big bang

what does it mean for something to 'blow your mind?'

to somehow experience something so incredible that you not only struggle for words to describe it, but you just wish you could remain then and there forever?

revelation is a mind-blowing thing…

in the revealing of oneself, there is a deep permission granted which goes beyond anything casual, and a trust that opens oneself to absolute unconditional acceptance and therefore to ultimate rejection. because of the invitation to intimacy, revelation engages the hearts of both parties involved.

could it even be possible for God to experience this overwhelming sense of connection with us- for the mind of God to be blown?

having looked upon us wearing the blood of Christ and the filthy rags of our own righteousness for so long, there is this sense of anticipation in the scriptures that sing of God’s eagerness to see us as we are meant to be.

to see us standing naked before God
not nude before God... naked.
there is a difference.

the fundamental difference between nakedness and nudity is gauged by the degree to which we openly and honestly release ourselves from the whole personal image cultivation thing in favour of self-revelation that fosters intimacy…

this is very much what God waits and waits and waits for with regard to humanity. in the scriptures, the image of a bridegroom is applied to God to illustrate this sense of deep and meaningful anticipatory longing by God for the day of true, mutual self-revelation. likewise, the church is compared to a bride in waiting.

that's right. a bride to be.

i think that in many ways we've gotten it wrong as we've referred to the church as being the bride of Christ. we've applied our western tradition to an eastern analogy.

this past summer while in sri lanka, i learned that the daughter of a dear friend of mine had been married over the course of the year. i was amazed (and mildly disappointed, having not heard until then) that this had all happened so fast, and asked for some more back story. it was explained to me that it wasn't fast at all- that this had been in the works for the last five years and that the husband was in london while she continued to live in her father's home in colombo.

by and by i realized what was going on.

she was betrothed- given, but not yet taken. she was, in the view of everyone, the bride. however, the actual ceremony would be undertaken after a time of preparation- and until then there was all this waiting, hoping, dreaming, planning, preparing.

eventually this beautiful girl will be with her handsome new husband completely, and their minds will both be blown at the depth of connection to which the word 'completely' implies.

but until then, there is all this anticipation and imagination as all is made ready for the final revelation... the one that effectively consummates the new identity and echad that will be part of who they are forever.

is it any wonder that the final book of the bible which describes, among other things, the 'marriage feast of the lamb' is called revelation?

i've always thought that the title pertained to the vision that God gave the writer of the book- a revealing of that which was hidden: the future.

what if the title revelation deals with the fact that, for the first time since the fall of humankind, creator and creation stand before each other completely naked of all that has separated them in order for the sinful and the fallen to not be completely destroyed by the holy? what if it carries within its implication, the openness and vulnerability and the mutual givenness to each other that blows all minds, even the mind of God, simultaneously for all eternity?

(much of the inspiration for this thinking has come from rob bell's book sex God- in particular, the final chapter, aptly titled 'whoopee forever')