Conversations with God

When I was a kid growing up in the buckle of the Bible Belt, it was not unusual for folks to claim that they had been “talking to the Lord” about things and that the Lord had engaged them in conversation. One of my high school buddies was getting dumped by his girlfriend who told him that she had been talking to the Lord about him. He replied, “Don’t listen to Him; He hates me!”
I talked to the Lord all the time. I still do. It’s called praying. Not once has the Lord ever spoken audibly to me or appeared in a miraculous vision, but I reckon that the Lord has led me to certain convictions over the years. I believe that the Holy Ghost guides me when I am open to such guidance.

Back in the day, it is said that God used to talk to people. He’d do this through angels or even in person. The exact mechanics of the personal contact are not described, so I don’t know whether there were actual sound waves involved or if the sensation of sound was placed in the auditors’ brains. On at least one occasion, God chose to appear in the form of a talking bush that appeared to be on fire. God evidently appeared in dreams and hallucinations.

Nowadays, it is acceptable to claim to receive messages from God as long as you are vague about the medium. A sense of conviction, a dream, a stray thought. These are OK. On the other hand, if you claim that you get audible messages from God through your hair dryer or any physical object, you will be dismissed as a kook or a liar by all but the most gullible folks. I seem to recall some preacher’s getting royally ribbed a few years ago for claiming that God appeared to him in the form of a 40 foot tall horse.

Perhaps there are genuine prophets among us, and we dismiss them as kooks. I recall some wild-eyed itinerant preachers who looked to me like what I imagined the Old Testament prophets looked and sounded like. They mostly warned of the End of the World and the need to Get Right With God, the former being way off the mark and the latter always good advice. A prophet needs to come up with something novel, I reckon, before he can attract a following. Would Joseph Smith have gotten so many devotees if he had just reiterated standard Protestant doctrine? “The angel of the Lord has appeared to me and has informed me that the Presbyterians have got it just right!”