Seeing the flames among the blackberries

By Steve Beard

"Earth is crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees, takes off his shoes; the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I have always been challenged by Browning’s quote and a tinge disappointed that I am not more alert to see the many ways that God shows up in unexpected places in unpredictable ways. I long for the day when the eyes of my heart will be opened in such a way that I take off my shoes in awe, rather than merely pick blackberries like I do too often.

I am heartened, however, that God does appear to be popping up all over the place—uninvited and without a lot of fanfare—to let people know that he loves them. He has been affording us more opportunities to unlace our shoes.

For example, I was thrilled to read in CCM magazine that Leigh Nash of the band Sixpence None the Richer had the chance to talk with David Letterman, the late night talk show host. According to journalist John Fischer, Nash was on the show in July to sing her wildly successful song, "Kiss Me," and Letterman used the opportunity to ask her about the band’s unusual name.

"It comes from a book by C.S. Lewis," she said. "The book is called Mere Christianity. A little boy asks his father [for] a sixpence, which is a very small amount of English currency…to go and get a gift for his father, and then the father gladly accepts the gift. He’s really happy with it, but he also realizes that he’s not any richer for the transaction because he gave his son the money in the first place."

"He bought his own gift," Letterman clarified.

"That’s right. Pretty much," replied Nash. "I’m sure it meant a lot to him, but he’s really no richer. C.S. Lewis was comparing that to his belief that God has given him and us the gifts that we possess, and to serve [God] the way we should, we should do it humbly, realizing how we got the gifts in the first place."

Standing there with his gapped-tooth grin, David Letterman found himself inadvertently proclaiming a gospel truth: "He bought his own gift." That is precisely what Jesus did for us on the cross. What a delightful opportunity to have a winsome presentation on the graciousness of God on a show watched by millions and best known for "Stupid Pet Tricks."

Not long ago, I was given another shot at the blackberry patch. This time, it was the tattoos of the cross and the face of Jesus on his arm that caught my eye as I was thumbing through an issue of Rolling Stone. It ended up to be another wonderful invitation to slip off my shoes and to watch the Lord swoop in under the radar screen. It turns out the famous rock ‘n’ roll magazine was doing a profile entitled "Son of a Preacher Man" on the heartbreaking and redemptive story of Jay Bakker, son of the well-known Jim and Tammy Faye.

As a preacher’s kid and a former punk rocker, I sat back and read with great interest.

Jay’s ministry in Atlanta, Revolution, is geared toward punk rockers and goths, the folks who make you nervous when you see them at the grocery store with their pale, pierced faces and donned in black attire from head to foot. Revolution sponsors rock concerts, skateboard shows, and a Bible study. Rolling Stone sat in on the study.

According to the story, Jay solicited prayer requests which ended up ranging from school troubles to friends hooked on drugs. He then led the group to Paul’s message in Romans 8 about nothing being able to separate us from God’s love. "For a while I thought God hated me," Jay testified. "If I smoked or drank, I thought I couldn’t live up to his expectations. But God wants an intimate relationship with you. He wants to hang out with you."

This prompted several responses from the group. "I used to think God was pissed off at me," said Vallorie, 17. "But now I have this vision of being a little girl and crawling up in his lap. My dad’s never been a real father figure, because he’s not my real dad. So God is my dad."

"If we come from abusive backgrounds," added purple-haired Dara, 29, "we get scared that if our earthly dad beat the crap out of us, so will our heavenly dad. But God wants a relationship with us."

As I read Vallorie’s and Dara’s moving testimonies, I was reminded of Psalm 27:10: "Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me." I was invited to take off my shoes and realize that right in the pages of Rolling Stone God is speaking to a lost and bewildered world and he was saying, "I love you. I’d love to hang out."

Steve Beard is the editor of Good News magazine and the founder of Thunderstruck.org.