The Big Whoosh

  Many years ago, an older lady asked me to come by on a weekend, and "take a look at" (code speak for; "fix on the cheap"} a plumbing issue in her home. I still recall asking over the phone for some sort of description of the problem she wanted addressed. Fourteen or so years later, her immortal words are yet with me; "The toilet, it goes whoosh!".
  "Ah, so that's it eh? Well, I'll just bring my anti-whooshometer out and adjust that bad whoosh vortex", were my thoughts. What was said was, "I'll check it out".
  Whoosh is a nice word, it is generally grasped, not too awfully specific, while remaining evocative. The roar of the riders on that big rollercoaster as it crazily dives, the glandular maladjustment of falling in love, going through a harrowing tight squeak on the interstate. The uses of the term are broad.
  I've been mulling over whoosh somewhat lately, and concluded that a C.P.E. was in order, to "explore" the basic idea here. Whoosh is central to much of my life experience, and so, many of my behaviors make little or no sense, unless interpreted in light of the w-factor.
  In case it has escaped your radar, I tend to view things as "threes". Not so much a left, right, and center, but moreso a dimensional interpenetration. Go read "Flatland" and that last sentence might possibly make sense. And not to flog dead horses here, the basic structure of the thinking is that we love to be "trapped" in some sort of digital dilemma. A one or a zero, those our only choices. A Democrat or a Republican, our only parties. A good or an evil, our sole options, we keep generating these "dilemmas". Whoosh appears (today at least), to be involved in this style of patterning. So then, the premise of many of these essays of the crazed pantaloon variety, is that this inner and outer polarizing is not solvable from inside the set. This however, says nothing at all about a surprising kind of solution, arriving, or crashing into our system, world and life from "the outside".
  That rehearsing of old hat aside then, I'd wonder just why precisely are we so wound up about, and stuck inside whoosh? I see at least three avenues, three sub-systems on board in the schema. Take any given "free" day you have before you. In filling your day up, those avenues might well imbibe from all three fountains, and a cross referencing between them is normal enough.
  The three are; ought, want and shall. The moral imperative, to do what you promised to, or are in some contractual sense obligated to do, is forming the ought. The desire, to express yourself, or relax, or do a fun thing is the want. But, we cannot see around corners, and there is no telling beforehand, just how well your planning of "the two opposites" will hold up in light of what in fact occurs. Our plans sometimes partly, and sometimes fully are realized. Yet, some days, none of what was expected actually ends up happening "due to unforeseen circumstances". And that, my friend is shall.
  We can buy the basic premise here, and kinda fill in the blanks at some future point. Your imagination is likely better than mine anyhow, and you can draw up vivid mental pictures at your leisure as to how best to describe the three here. My only observation in this is that remarkably enough; whoosh appears across the gamut, but in different flavors.
  The ought of paying your latest speeding ticket, or going to have the dentist drill holes in your head, is something you "should do". The whoosh is that bit of doubt at the danger, or the tight spot this places you in. Have you ever wondered, for why; are some folks terrified of enclosed spaces? Whoosh!
  Or consider, a vacation, or a trip shopping as a fun thing. We want the thrill of, the tiny rush of being loosed from obligation and duty, so to let our hair down. Frequently, this type of thing goes off the rails, and people end up doing silly, shameful or dangerous things, but clearly here we observe the w-thing within us as a kind of motivational driver.
  And finally, whooshery is found as a rather unwelcome interloper. The "polar and digital" is shattered by a shot from our blind side. A car crash, that panic Mom just called on the phone about, the kid breaking her arm out rollerblading. The whoosh here is a kind of abrupt reversal, a gear shifting on the fly, and a stepping into the emergency response team role, unless of course, we are the one needing assistance today! Whoosh!
  Today's brainwave then is to this end. If life is defined more or less as that theatre wherein whoosh is being applied, and second, that The Living One, is in fact the One who is doing the crashing into our polar opposite premise with a solution from outside the system, wouldn't that make Him King of Whoosh?
  The ought, the want and the shall of life, all point "backwards" at Him! He, in this sense would be the most Dreadful Judge ever to appear before, The Doctor is doing a body transplant! The Desire of the ages, Himself, live and in Person, whoosh-cubed! The One who picks up the pieces of the trainwreck of our lives, and knits our shattered lives back together, His emergency response is unrivaled. So, all this being the case, why do we find Him so boring? Why do men fall asleep in church? Why are kids so entirely distracted as to totally put Him out of mind? Does this seem odd to you too?
  If it be granted that we ought to pray, this is no guarantee that we want to. The third leg crashing into our lives tends rather to drive us to pray. We could wish (want) that things were otherwise, but just about every time we set out to discipline ourselves (ought) to practice prayer, some little thing pops up on the brain radar to distract. Things remain more or less "there" until Johnny gets strep throat, or the cat falls into the blender. I'm not saying things ought be otherwise, I'm describing them as they are. Simply then, we are free once the wheels fall off (again) to pray inside of whoosh.
  "Teach us to pray as John taught his folk to do", the twelve asked our Captain. "Okay, talk this way"; says He.
  "Father ours, heaven in, Name-Thine, holy be. Kingdom-Thine come! Will-Thine, be done, here in earth, as there in heaven. Daily bread give, daily sin forgive, as we likewise are forgiving and giving. Leading not in temptation, delivering from the evil, it is You, that all-powerful, regal honored One at the center of things. So it is, yepster, and yowsah". Say that, until you get good at it.
  Okay, so the point of the essay is that whoosh formats across the three. Did you miss in the prayer how so? The want is the desire for. That means sexy treasure, loot, and swag. It means acquiring position, clout and bigness. You want measly gold, girls and guns? Sheesh, that's like wanting the flea rather than the sabre toothed tiger the flea is hitching a ride on! Our "problem" isn't desire, it's that we've suppressed the reality that the best brightest shiniest ever that we have seen is but a vague hint, a dim whisper of The Genuine Article In Person! We treasure the Name, we call aloud to Jesus, and He hears? We keep settling for scraps of junk and debris, in order to "forget' Him Who Is hearing prayer?
  Or consider what we ought to for a second. The domain of heaven is in our midst! The new creation is begun, the kingdoms of this earth are become the fiefdoms of our God, and of His Annointed One. There is zero you or anyone can do to "reverse this trend". What we ought do, is walk orderly in Christ Jesus, like them saints and angels above are now doing. It's the coming thing, may as well get used to it. But far more than that, don't you hear the whoosh? He is extending His glad hand inviting you (of all people!) into the dance. Your two cents worth of contribution, and participation is noticed, and welcomed. You (in Him at minimum) do "make a difference". And even better yet, the further you go, the faster you get. Prove reliable with nickels and dimes, and move on up to the next level of ought. Lookee at that Joseph cat, from slave to vice ruler of a super power (Egypt) through walking orderly and believing the word given him!
  And what of the shall? He shall provide. Bread, air, water, clothes, shelter, transportation, communication, and let's not forget a dab of gravity so we don't go floating off like so many toy balloons. He shall provide the absolutely crucial forgiveness of sin, so that the Judge calls us (of all people!) righteous before Him! This Almighty mercy displayed means life, and life from the dead, and it's already begun. We then, as the living, shall indeed pardon our brother, bless our sister no matter how rancid, blockheaded and petty they be. The hope reached new lows, it found me! There simply must be hope for them. We shall intervene on their sad behalf, and ask for a big dose of whoosh for him and her too.
  The temptation that we would value some aspect of what He has made over He Himself, the drifting away from His agenda to renew all things and our contribution to that massive remodel job, the wondering if perhaps this time I've gone beyond His ability or desire to catch me again, that wanting for revenge, we reject them all! The whoosh is that we are utterly confident, He shall never ever guide us thataway. Furthermore, we are nowadays freed to simply reject the wanna-be, also-ran pee-wee rush and whoosh of the enemy. He is proposing a "like-God" second option. There is none such, but the lie is so powerful, that we must be delivered out of it, and this (precisely) is His plan. Whoosh, to the nth degree!
  From Him, through Him, to Him, be all things, persons and powers. The Regal Majesty, admired and reveled in, He's doing just fine, thanks for asking! Reality is about His reputation, and we are those awakened from the dead, so to be able to notice it.
  A bit like clean water, good music, and the sound of wind in the pine trees; dim whispers all. Those feasts and celebrations, the grand fireworks and turbo charged jet-skis, all distant hints of a gladness we are yet unable to take in. The fierce loyalty displayed in the death of the hero, the love song of the poet, the marvelous cathedral built over centuries, each in their own way slender tokens of the King Immortal. He is "like" these, but infinitely more so, so to speak.
  So it is, so it is! Yepster and yowsah cubed! And incidentally, I for purely appropriate reasons; would like to add whoosh!