The preacher and the deacon perched anxiously upon overstuffed pulpits. They had entered unto our home for to fetch the soul of my firstborn. “What did you say?” I asked, diverting my attentions from a spider’s web billowing softly near the peak of the cathedral ceiling.
“I said,” said the preacher as his voice ratcheted up an octave, “We believe in a literal interpretation of The Bible. Although we are very open minded for renegade Baptists. Matter of fact, we even welcome HO-mo-SEX-you-alls into our fold. So long as they don’t practice, of course.”
Interview over.
“You know,” I said, knowing full well they couldn’t, “I am sorry. Thank you for coming. My daughter has my permission to join your church if that’s what she wants to do. I have always brought her up to think for herself. It’s her choice to make. But, please… For me, I will never believe what you believe until your God strikes me down on the Road to Damascus like Saul.”
Yup. Interview over.
Since that moment in the latter days of the last century, I have come to realize that I have, indeed, been struck down on the Road to Damascus like Saul—too many times to count—though it has been my manner to rise up and persist in stumbling along without ever really learning what it is that keeps knocking.
The story of Saul of Tarsus has fascinated me since I was a young seeker in Sunday school. A hateful man purchases a government license for the express purpose of religious persecution. He is struck down and blinded in the midst of his mission by the Word of God. After the requisite three days of beseeching, Saul receives the Holy Spirit when Ananais lays hallowed hands upon him. Saul rises up with the clear vision of transformation to become one of the most central figures in The New Testament and the early Christian church–the Apostle Paul.
The song Damascus Road is a meta-fictional retelling of the story of Saul. To make certain I stayed true to the original tale, I reread the Biblical telling. I was immediately taken with the distinction made between the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. I never had really thought about it before. It is entirely possible to hear and accept the Word—even directly from God or angel—and still miss the point of Salvation. Living in Grace.
The vehicle of Grace is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is made manifest unto Saul in the form of a man–Ananais with his healing hands. It is only through Saul accepting the help of another human being that his vision is not merely restored but totally recreated.
In fact, the essential nature of human touch in the workings of the Holy Spirit is revealed over and over in New Testament events. I believe this theme speaks directly to why Jesus was necessarily born not as God—but as flesh and blood—ultimately inseparable from family, friends, community and culture.
Time and again a bunch of Bible folks may be observed sitting around some chamber staring at each other—often bickering amongst themselves and always waiting—wondering when that Word would change something for the better. Seems it’s never until someone shows up and does a good laying on of the hands that the Holy Spirit is finally visited upon them. Let the good times roll.
Only then can we truly expect miracles to commence. And they do. I believe I recall a particularly good one having to do with loaves and fishes that turn an economy of scarcity into an economy of plenty in two shakes of the Lamb’s tale…
Reach out and touch someone. Be brave enough to reveal your soul. Let someone touch you. Expect a miracle though quiet it may be. Somehow I missed the message for a very long time. It seemed like Eternity.
Damascus Road MP3 by Thomas Hubbard
Damascus Road was recorded live and uncut in the living room on an Olympus LS-10. Just me and a guitar about 2 feet away from the mic with levels set on automatic.
