It’s been said that while no one conversation will make or break a relationship, every conversation has the potential to alter that relationship’s trajectory.

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This morning, I read the following on Ray Stedman’s Daily Devotional:

In our travels, my family and I were privileged to be in various parts of the ancient world, where we visited many temples dedicated to idols. Though these temples had fallen into ruins, in every place a certain god such as Apollo, Venus, Bacchus, or Zeus had been enthroned and worshiped there. It suddenly struck me, after returning home, that though these temples have been abandoned, the worship of the god has not ceased. We have changed the names, but the gods, the idols, are exactly the same. There is the worship of Narcissus, the god who fell in love with himself. Is this not perhaps the supreme god of humanity: the worship of self, the exaltation of humans? The idea that we constantly hear set forth is that humans are so tremendous, so smart, so brilliant, so clever; they can do so many things. Yet we deny the continual evidence of our senses that the world is crumbling to pieces around us. We have the worship of Bacchus, the god of pleasure, wine, women, and song; the worship of Venus, the goddess of love, enthroned in Hollywood and all that Hollywood stands for; Apollo, the god of physical beauty; Minerva, the goddess of science. Everywhere we have enthroned science.

So, I thought of a little experiment to validate Ray’s theory. I simply visited the front page of DrudgeReport.com to see if the headlines matched what he is saying. Here are the results from just one page of browsing:

• James Camerons says BP are “morons who don’t know what they are doing” (Narcissus/Venus)
• Oil ball continues towards Florida (Minerva)
• Oil lek may continue until Christmas (Minerva)
• Porn actor goes on Rampage (Bacchus)
• Another Party at the White House: Paul McCartney sings (Bacchus/Venus)
• McCartney bashes Bush (Narcissus)
• Man Kills Kitten after it disconnects his video game (Bacchus)
• Spike Lee tells Obama how to handle the Oil Crisis (Narcissus/Venus)
• SURPRISE: Pacific islands defy sea level predictions; Islands stable or growing (Narcissus)

Lends credibility to Ray’s thoughts… Now, if this is one page on the internet, imagine the amount of god’s that are worshipped in all that media we encounter each day!

We’re in the thick of the summer heat. It came on fast, almost suddenly after an exceptionally beautiful spring. I’m always surprised by this heat. I don’t know why, I should be used to it by now.

Other things surprise me too, things that I should already know. Things like God’s voice, his work in lives, his revelation through creation, his presence in me! They help me pay attention to what he’s doing.

Listening to God is not easy. It takes time, quiet time, secluded time, precious time. Sometimes it’s on a walk or waking in the middle of the night! But the point is, do any of us really listen in a way that changes us? Do we push back that voice, putting it aside because it seems impossible to BE what we are supposed to be without losing who God has uniquely made us? Complicated.

I clearly remember waking in the middle of the night thinking of someone that I haven’t heard from in years and wondered why they came to mind. Is that the only time that my busy mind can be quiet enough for God to bring someone to mind so that I will pray for them? Do we just really need to pay better attention and listen even when it’s inconvenient?

God help me be a better listener.