Profundity can be found in the most ordinary of situations. Yet our keying into these moments of insight and truth depends solely on an ability to expect the unexpected; grasping it tightly with both hands as if our lives depended on it when it does appear...

One benefit of lockdown was having time to research the best kit for my podcast. I may sound like a paid advert, but YouTube videos were invaluable - even when the annoying algorithm sneakliy threw film & lighting into the mix. It providentially awakened a dormant love, so no harm, no foul!

Okay! In the interests of full disclosure, I admit that hungrily devouring the latter helped me solve the ultimate virtual meeting problem - how not to resemble a troll sitting in a dark tunnel with only a flashlight for company.

A happy coincidence, of course! I would never let such vanity drive my pursuit of professional perfectionism!! 😉😊

Anyways…there I was, reposing on the sofa half-watching, half-listening to the umpteenth recording, when I suddenly heard the presenter say, "Before you ever shoot a video, ask yourself about the AVL - audio, video and lighting."

I sat up sharply, obligatory light bulb exploding in glorious colour above my head!

Who gave us The Word?

Who showed us The Way?

Who Lights up our paths?

It was as much revelatory as ego-stripping. Because I confess to being as guilty as the next person of falling into the unfortunate habit of associating God with the mundane.

Like a comfortable old dressing gown, I've at times thrown Him on when I’m tired, weary and desperate for warmth and reassurance. Only to speedily shrug Him off for something slinky and exciting when I’m on top of the world.

Preferring a fleeting hug to a Father’s loving embrace…

Dazzled by bright lights instead of the brilliance of the Creator of the galaxies…

To be sure, none of us have ever meant to deliberately side-line God. That would be plain stupid, which we're not. We’ve simply been too short-sighted to see that even when He is not providing miracles on-tap, He remains master of our minutiae and still on a par with breathing. Necessary in every nano second and no less marvellous,

Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.

The "without which, not"* we navigate life with.

As AVL systems go, the possibilities are endless.

As "Aha!" moments go, it’s way up there with giving kudos to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel brushstrokes of genius; but realising that eons before, the finger of God it so beautifully depicted actually did etch a way of life for all mankind on a couple of stone tablets**. In dazzling shades of grey, no less.

With a zillion things competing for our attention, it’s easy to be distracted. However let’s remember that despite the double feast of gourmet food and hobnobbing in the owner’s box, you've a better chance of catching the ball when you’re not behind that wall of glass; especially if it’s misty***.

Dolled-up mono is a damp squib when life in pulsating stereo is an intuitive drumbeat away.

Seeing God at all is miraculous, and knowing so sufficient to ensure that we always will.

*'sine qua non' (Latin) - an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential

**The Lord gave me the two tablets on which God had written with his own finger all the words he had spoken to you from the heart of the fire when you were assembled at the mountain.

Deuteronomy 9:10 NLT

***We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

1 Corinthians 13:12 MSG

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