Abiding in Him, we enjoy the intimacy to which He calls us and come to truly know Him. Spending time alone with God rids our minds of distraction so that we can focus on Him and hear His Word. Without time alone with God, we will find needs unmet we will not truly know the abundant life He gives. We spend time alone with God and in corporate worship for the best nourishment. Just as a branch is linked directly to the vine and, through the vine, connected to other branches, so we are linked directly to Christ and therefore share in a community. To rely on Jesus as our vine (John 15:1-8), we will need to be directly, intimately connected to Him. Jesus actually instructed us to pray to God alone at times: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen” (Matthew 6:6a). In the New Testament, Jesus spent time alone with God (Matthew 14:13 Mark 1:35 Mark 6:45-46 Mark 14:32-34 Luke 4:42 Luke 5:16 Luke 6:12 Luke 9:18 John 6:15). God’s presence passed by as Elijah was in the cave. David, whose many psalms reflect a confident familiarity with God, communed with Him while on the run from Saul (Psalm 57). Moses met with God alone at the burning bush and then on Mt. In the Old Testament, we see God call prophets to come to Him alone. Perhaps the best reason for us to spend time alone with God is to follow biblical examples. We will hunger and thirst for righteousness, and we will be filled (Matthew 5:6). We will be like Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to His voice (Luke 10:39). When we desire to know God intimately, we will seek Him early (Psalm 63:1) and spend time with Him. He invites us to come to Him and know Him (Isaiah 1:18 Revelation 22:17 Song of Solomon 4:8). He knows the sparrows individually, and “you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29, 31). God knows the intimate details of our lives, such as the number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7). He created us as individuals, “knitting” us in the womb (Psalm 139:13). He wants a personal relationship with us. Stevens wrote two songs for the film, "Mysteries Of Love" and "Visions Of Gideon", as well as a re-arranged version of "Futile Devices", the Age Of Adz opener oft-referenced on Predatory Wasp Posting.God desires “alone time” with us. Soon, Stevens's music will be riper for reading, with the pending release of Call Me By Your Name, Luca Guadagnino's adaptation of André Aciman's queer coming-of-age novel. But it's through against the grain readings where queer people, historically, have had to find themselves. Of course, we could be reading something which is simply not there. Whether intended, there's room within that expansiveness for LGBTIQ audiences to imagine themselves within Stevens's landscape without contortion. Is this song gay or just about his dead mum? Oh, but also about finding God through nature? It's hard to say. Now all of me thinks less of you (All of me wants all of you)" Revelation may come true (All of me wants all of you) Landscape changed my point of view (All of me wants all of you) Saw myself on Spencer's Butte (All of me wants all of you) You can hear it loudest in the lack of distinction between Sufjans's use of "his": does he mean God, or someone else? in addition to someone or something else: California, along with Florida and Hawaii, is among the most popular US tourist destinations. While there's plenty of biblical metaphors and allusions in his music, Stevens prefers an ambiguous, esoteric expression of his beliefs, avoiding the didacticism that turns most non-believers off faith focused music. Stevens's relationship to Christianity is one of personal connection strained under institutional religion. Inadvertently or not, Stevens's expression of Christianity mirrors the way many of his listeners experience their sexuality: in a confluence of joy, shame and renewal. You did something to piss me off, and Im not. Whether Stevens's songs are 'gay or about God' is a trick question. Women have two different meanings for the phrase, Leave me alone Meaning 1: Im very upset with you. It's that a lot of the things he sings about are really identifiable to LGBTI people, and particularly LGBTI people that have grown up religious and that resulting guilt." "I don't really think it's about what sexual identity has," says Mitchell. The state of my heart, he was my best friend…"ĭespite the autobiographical elements at play, the group largely avoids mining Stevens's personal history for clues. "Touching his back with my hand I kiss him… It's named after one of Stevens's more obviously queer-leaning songs, "The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!", about a childhood friend from camp: In the words of member Darcey Mitchell, the group's "less shit-posting and more of a community": alongside the memes, there's earnest dissection of Stevens's music and, more generally, queer issues. There's even an off-shoot group for LGBTIQ Stevens fans, *Palisades Posting.
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