When God Winks

I am blessed to belong to a group of women who read books together. We read novels mostly, and we meet once a month to discuss them. It's not a religious group, but we often read books that hint at religious themes. It's been a blessing to me because it forces me to think outside the box and read things I would never read on my own, and to have deep discussions with people I wouldn't normally talk to.

The book we're reading right now is not a novel but a rather bizarre memoir. The narrator is an adolescent boy. Because of his parents' divorce and his mother's psychiatric issues, he is living with a rather dysfunctional and eccentric psychiatrist named Dr. Finch and his family. One of the many very odd things the Finch family does is something called "Bible-Dips." It's like asking a Magic Eight Ball a question, only you are asking God. The author describes it this way:

The way it worked was, one person held the bible while another person thought of a question to ask God, like, "Should I get my hair cut short?" Then the person holding the bible opened it at random, and the person asking the question dropped his or her finger on the page. Whatever word your finger landed on, this was your answer. The doctor was so enthusiastic about bible-dips as a direct form of communication with God that most of his patients performed them.ⁱ

And just so you get the idea, here's an example of how doing a "bible-dip" actually works: At a deli counter, Dr. Finch's daughter couldn't decide between a tuna sandwich or a turkey sandwich so, even though there was a line behind her, she pulled out her white bible. She did the dip herself, because she was in a hurry. "Harvest", she said. "I landed on the word harvest." She thought for a moment and then said, "Aren't turkeys grain-fed? They are, I think. So that's pretty close to a harvest." Then she smiled at the perplexed girl who was standing behind the counter looking mortified and she said, "I'll take the turkey. But on multigrain just to make sure".ⁱⁱ

As your pastor, I would not recommend "bible-dips" as a very reliable method to discern God's leading in your life. But it is amusing, sometimes, to see what people do in order to figure that out. Where does God want me to go? What does God want me to do? Today we are celebrating The Epiphany of our Lord. Epiphany is a Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the wise men. As I mentioned already, this feast day is traditionally observed on January 6. Epiphany also means, literally, "manifestation". It can be a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something. It can be a comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization. As Frank Maier said, "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself". An "epiphany" is what I think the Finches were looking for when they did their "Bible Dips".

One of the reasons I like to transfer this day to the first Sunday in January is because at the turn of the new year, we often get a bit introspective. We may make New Year's resolutions and they are sometimes related to questions about where God wants us to go, and what God wants us to do. The Gospel story for Epiphany, the journey of the wise men to Jesus, is a wonderful story to jump into as we discern. The wise men, as we hear the story so many times over, seem to have had it easy. It appears as though they were hit over the head by the star leading them to where they were supposed to go. No "bible dipping" was necessary for them. And yet, if we had actually been there, I'm sure it wouldn't have been as clear to us then as it seems to us now. In actuality, their experience was probably very ordinary. And yet, it was probably also very EXTRAordinary. One priest explained that an epiphany works like this: God is forever tapping on my head saying, "Dana!," "Dana!," trying to get my attention. Every once in a while I notice. I look up and say, "Huh???" And THAT'S an epiphany!ⁱⁱⁱ

I have a very dear friend who describes these in another way. She calls them "God Winks." She describes things that happen in her life, things that other people might see as coincidences, as if God is "winking at her", as if to say, "Judy, I'm still here. You know I love you". Barry and I have adopted this shorthand when we talk about things that happen in our lives that give us a sign, not unlike the star that guided the wise men, that God must be at work. Often, Barry will come home and say, "I had a Godwink today". And he'll tell me about something someone said or did that clarified or confirmed a direction toward which he was leaning.

I was doing an internet search the other day and, lo and behold, there is a "When God Winks" website! But ask Susan -- I came up with the theme for this sermon before I ever knew about the website! Honest! Now like the Bible Dips, I'm not officially recommending the website to you. But a few thoughts from there do help me explain to you about this phenomenon of "Godwinks." On this website, godwinks are "those amazing little coincidences that happen to you." They serve as "divine signposts to help you navigate your way... They are kind of like a wink from Dad or Grandma that said, 'Hey kid, I'm thinking of you right now'. They're like little signposts from above [-- not unlike the epiphany star --] that remind you that you are always on a sort of global positioning system. You're never alone.^iv

One of the best books I know of about discerning God's direction for our lives is called Listening Hearts by Suzanne Farnham. In the ordinariness of our day to day lives, when Bible-dipping doesn't seem to do it, and we don't see a bright star in the sky leading us to where we are supposed to go, there are seven things we can look for that all, in my experience, might count as "God Winks" -- signs that God is manifest in my life and leading me. Peace is the central sign. Peace does not mean an absence of trouble, but rather a firm conviction, even in the midst of turmoil, that "all shall be well." Joy is another sign. Another might be a temporary experience of disorientation, followed by calm and serenity. Tears that are comforting and tranquilizing, rather than disturbing and fatiguing, can be one way God's leading and presence becomes manifest. A sudden sense of clarity can be a Godwink. Or, strands of experience that seemed unrelated, that begin to converge and fit together, can be a signpost. And finally, persistence -- when the message keeps recurring through different channels, almost surely, the Spirit of God is speaking.^v

As a postscript to this conversation, on the heels of such an overwhelmingly devastating disaster in South Asia, let me say emphatically that our church does not in any way understand such devastation to be a "Godwink" or an act of God in the sense that God was behind the earthquake or that God willed the deaths of some 150,000 people or that God wreaked such unprecedented havoc on a good portion of the earth. We claim the promises of a God who created the world to turn according to natural law, and a God who is made manifest in one who comes to meet us in our suffering. And so God continues to wink and even more, to cry, and to suffer with all those who suffer from such devastation. God's presence and leading is made manifest in the acts of those who so courageously help those suffering from devastation. God's presence is made manifest in the dollars you send to our ELCA disaster response efforts.

As a new year begins, and as the wise men journey to God in Christ made manifest, may God's leading and presence be manifest in your life. Today, may God's presence be manifest in bread and wine as he comes to us in his holy supper. May you be led to where God wants you to go and, most importantly, may you notice, and know that peace.

Pastor Dana Runestad
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
The Feast of the Epiphany (Transferred from January 6)
Matthew 2:1-12
2 January, 2005

ⁱAugusten Burroughs, Running With Scissors, New York: Picador/St. Martin's Press, 2002, pp. 76-77.
ⁱⁱ Ibid, p. 78. (Book is cited for reference purposes only. This is not an endorsement or recommendation!)
ⁱⁱⁱ Rev. Susan Russell, in a sermon "When the Star in the Sky is Gone," preached at All Saints Church, Pasadena, CA, January 5, 2003
^iv http://www.whengodwinks.com/home.html
^v Suzanne G. Farnham, et al, Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community, Harrisburg, PA, Morehouse Publishing, 1991, "Signs of God's Call," pp. 46-47.

Back to home page