I walked over the remains of the four broken plate-glass doors and entered into the old Seattle Center Coliseum. (Yes, I am picking up where I left off with the last blog.) As I entered the structure I noticed a garbage dumpster full of bottles which had been confiscated from my fellow concert goers. A small river of alcohol drained from the dumpster into a floor grate.
I found my friend Gordon and we ran down onto the floor of the arena securing a standing position relatively close to the stage.
In 1975, louder was better. Led Zeppelin was a loud band, and we were in a relatively small venue. But this Led Zeppelin concert was more than volume. I felt it first during the song Kashmir and later during No Quarter. Notes so low in frequency that it felt like my guts were rattling around inside my frame. I felt them more than heard them. During the performance of Kashmir the singer, Robert Plant, would transform some of the lyrics into sustained screams. The volume and pitch, at times, would resonate in my head. I had to cover my ears. Add to this a very large light show with krypton lasers.
The band created an experience which saturated my hearing, feeling, and my vision. The crowd saturated the arena with second hand marijuana smoke. The smoke and the associated odor, though unfortunate, did add a nice volumetric effect to the light show. The experience, as perceived by my senses was extremely intense. As a result, I remember it vividly.
Now, recall the disciple doubting Thomas in John 20:25. Thomas needed an experience, sensory proof in order to believe in a resurrected Christ. Eight days later, Jesus sequenced Thomas through touch, vision, and then intellectual stimulus before he believed. Thomas was able to have a very real, intense, experience. Physical verification of a resurrected Christ. Thomas, believing his senses, went on to declare Jesus as both his Lord and his God.
But what about us, what do we have to move us beyond our doubts?
Jesus follows up with Thomas in John 20:29: “Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”
That blessing is the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus is not physically sitting next to me right now, I can’t stick my dirty fingers into his side. To deal with this, he gave me the witness of the Holy Spirit. My mind is opened up beyond my senses to the thoughts and wisdom of God. Yes, access to God.
The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a regenerate Christian is so striking it begs further discussion.
The Apostle Paul, writes in 1 Corinthians 2:9-13 (ESV):
“9But, as it is written,
‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—
10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”
God has given us something that goes beyond our vision, something that goes beyond our ability to hear. God has given us the Spirit who is from God. As a result, we are the most blessed of all people on the planet.
The image:
In Christianity the symbol for God is the circle (no beginning and no end). The symbol for the Christian Holy Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is represented with three interlocking circles. It dates back to at least 186 AD.
Separately, the three interlocking circles were also used by Led Zeppelin’s drummer, John Bonham, on their fourth album released in 1971. (Yes, the album with Stairway.)