Ed Tuttle was a graphic designer for a large manufacturer. He was also a follower of Christ. Ed befriended the new guy, Eric, at work. That turned out to be providential.
Eric was underemployed as a proofreader. His elite Yale education prepared him for loftier things. It was during those student years that he formulated his own philosophy of the meaning of the universe. He used a frozen lake metaphor. The ice on the surface was the conscious mind, and the water below was the collective unconscious. To him, the goal of all religions is to drill through the ice to whatever might exist below.
His new work colleague Ed had a more specific worldview. As part of their growing friendship, he challenged Eric. “You should pray that God would reveal Himself to you.” At first Eric thought the idea was as weird as Ed. But sometimes while jogging Eric would pray, “God I’m trapped in my own mind. I need a sign.”
One day Eric’s uncle had a stroke. When Ed heard the news, he invited Eric to pray about it in a private space in the office. Eric agreed. Praying to a specific God for a specific reason was new. Later at his uncle’s funeral, Eric eagerly agreed to read a Psalm. “Something was engaged for the first time,” he said.
Then came the dream. He was ice fishing. The dazzling sunlight reflected from the white snow and frozen lake into the deep blue sky. A fish lifted his head from the water. Eric picked it up and saw it was a living fish made of gold. At that moment in the dream, he knew God was speaking in “the secret vocabulary of my heart.” The golden fish was the embodiment of the “ichthus,” the early church’s fish symbol of Jesus. God used Eric’s own frozen lake metaphor to reveal Jesus, God the Son, in a transcendent way. The next day at work, he shared the dream with Ed. “What do you think it means?” Ed asked. “It means,” Eric paused, “I have accepted Jesus.”
Eric went on to become a seasoned author and thinker. On his forum, “Socrates in the City,” he hosts conversations with modern thought leaders. You may have heard of Eric Metaxas, but probably not Ed Tuttle, a true friend who shared the sweet aroma of the knowledge of God. Now you know the rest of the story.
Do love, joy, kindness, and faithfulness sweeten your relationships and conversations with what really matters? “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Cor. 2:14-15).