ANOTHER KIND OF HEAT
Have you ever been hot? I thought I had, but what I called hot was really just warm. This past week my Canadian body has learned a thing or two about heat. For eight or nine days in a row, the temperature in Toronto was in the mid to high 30's (Celsius). On the last few days of the hot spell, the temperature was around 40 degrees Celsius, or over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. To make matters worse, the high humidity made it feel even hotter!
They were saying on the news that the last time a summer was this hot in Toronto was in the 1930's when over two hundred people died in the city. So many people died that the hospital and city morgues were filled to capacity and they had to open up Maple Leaf Gardens and use the ice surface as a makeshift morgue until all the bodies could be identified. This time around, I've heard of only five possible heat related deaths, thanks to the availability of air conditioning.
Lucky for us, we found, in the recesses of the storage area of our new home, an old air conditioner left by one of the past occupants. Thus far we hadn't considered using it, but this last heat wave made us so desperate for relief that we lugged this rather large, heavy, beaten up contraption up the stairs and put it in a main floor window. As we crossed our fingers and turned the switch, the cities lights dimmed and Toronto Hydro called and informed us that we now qualify to be on their preferred customer list! Unfortunately, this beast of a box, with its hunger for electrons, only spouted out a "tease" of cooler air. So for the past week, our family slept downstairs huddled around this air conditioner that was more of a symbol of coolness then a reality of relief.
As a Canadian, I'm used to this kind of a scene. When I was a kid, we lived in an old farmhouse that had, as its only source of heat, a space heater in the kitchen and living room. In the frigid recesses of January, we would huddle around the space heater in the living room hoping to keep all the digits on our hands and feet intact. Still, extreme cold is something I have experienced many times. Extreme cold can be dressed for and conquered, but what about extreme heat?
I hate the fact that I've been hiding from the sun with the same intensity as those who sleep in coffins and loathe garlic. It's not in my Canadian blood to shun weather and admit defeat, but for the majority of this heat spell that's exactly what I did. Notice that I said, "for the majority". On the absolute hottest day, with temperatures well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, I, Grant MacDonald, went outside for an extended period of time during the hottest part of the day and ended up walking several kilometers on the downtown streets of our fair city. Maybe it was the heat that caused what little common sense I possess to evaporate? Perhaps it was simply my way of shaking my fist at the sun and declaring my independence from its temperature tantrum? It was probably a bit of both, but I am glad that I went out on my searing stroll because it caused me to experience heat like I never have before. It also restored my dignity, even if that dignity came at a rather soggy, sweaty price.
At one point I was walking on a sidewalk that had on one side of it a concrete retaining wall that rose about twenty feet above my head. The wind felt like a hair dryer on full heat and the billows of heat convecting off the asphalt and concrete were impressive, to say the least! I felt very much like a chicken must feel in a rotisserie. But, at the same time, the heat had transformed the air into something different. The air wasn't just hot and muggy-it had a presence, a life that gently caressed and enveloped my body. For a few minutes the heat was transformed, from an enemy, into a friend. The heat seemed to have a living essence that penetrated into my very being. Whether this sensation can be attributed to heat-induced hallucinations or dehydration, doesn't really matter because this encounter left me amazed and deeply touched. I imagine I won't have many of you disagree with the last part of that statement! "Yep, Grant's deeply touched all right! Poor guy fried his brain!"
Still, this experience has caused me to ponder. There have been times in my life that I have been lukewarm in my faith. Actually, if I'm to be really honest with you, there have been times that my faith has been downright cold. Thankfully, there have also been times when my faith was hot and on fire. There have been times when God's presence has caressed and enveloped and penetrated my heart. There have been times when I have been stopped in my tracks and left to marvel at God's overwhelming presence. But, here's the question that I have been pondering: what if the spiritual heat I've experienced is really only the average heat of an average faith? What if God desires for me a sweltering heat in His presence and I've been content to hide myself in the cooler, more comfortable climes of the kingdom? Deep down I know that many have experienced a different kind of spiritual heat than I, but now I must ask myself: am I willing to do what it takes to go out into the bright light and heat so that I can be more deeply convicted and touched by God's presence?
Ultimately, it is my desire to be so in contact with the will and presence of God that I feel His gentle presence against every part of my being. I want the sin and impurities of my actions and character to run out of me in rivers of cleansing sweat. I want to be more fully aware of my connection to Christ than I have ever been before. I want a deeper, more intense, experience with God, not just to experience Him, or be thrilled by Him, but most of all, to also be changed by Him. This is my desire; I hope it will become my reality!
How about you? How spiritually hot has your summer been so far? In what ways, if any, have you air-conditioned your life against the presence of God? One thing I know for sure. No matter how hot your experience with God has been thus far; it can still get a lot hotter!
If you have any thoughts or comments or questions, please click on my name at the bottom of this page and I promise to write you back.
