Reflections on A God-Encounter

Several days ago I had a God-encounter with a young woman who has known struggles in her life. Having just moved, she was already trying to make connections that would help her in her journey of recovery. I was not one of those intentional connections; we just happened to be sitting in adjacent chairs getting pedicures.

She had a strong feeling that this time her recovery needed to be permanent. Mainly I had listened to her, but when she said this, I spoke up to say that in my experience, and from what I know of 12-step programs, thinking of something so large as “permanent” can be what leads us right back to that from which we are trying to recover. Each day, each moment, each decision is all we can truly face at any one time.

That is why even keeping our marriage commitments—“until we are parted by death”—actually has to be day-by-day, each morning and each night renewing that commitment. When we stumble in our recovery or our commitment, everything is not lost. It is at the moment when we catch ourselves, realizing what we have done, that we can come to a greater awareness. We can learn, and once again step forward stronger perhaps now than we were before.

p.s. Another part of reflecting on this God-encounter has to do with the work I have to get done by October 15—turning in the draft of theological chapter for my DMin paper. Looking at it as a whole is overwhelming, so I will be addressing little bites of it at a time. For the next month, you may see me less. I will re-emerge after I turn it in. Until then, keep me in your prayers, and keep all of us who deal with some form of recovery in our lives in prayer.

Psalm 37:23

Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.

The Prayers of a Child

I do not believe that children are the church of tomorrow. They are very much part of the church today. While there is much they have to learn from the adults in their lives, there is also a great deal they can teach the adults.

This week, I heard of one young boy who had a big disappointment. It was not as simple as not getting a game or some thing that he wanted. It was bigger than that. He dealt with it bravely during the day. That night as he and his mother prayed at bedtime, he thanked God for the day, “even though it hadn’t felt like a good day to him.” He even said in his prayers that it is not all about him.

How many adults could not begin to say that prayer and mean it as sincerely as he did! He did not lie or cover up his feelings, but he did thank God in the midst of his emotional pain. That shows an amazing trust. I thank God for him, for his mom and dad, and I pray that out of of this disappointment, he will find it transformed in a grace-filled way.

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.

Paying Attention

Have you ever noticed that wherever or on whatever we fix our attention, the more of this wherever or whatever we see.  Hmmm. Does that mean that there are now more instances of the wherever or whatever than there were before I fixed my attention on them? Of course not. I notice them more because I am paying attention.

When I took a course in photography, the teacher taught us to look for patterns of three because he thought that they made a scene more alive and interesting. I began seeing them everywhere. They had always been there, but once I began to pay attention I noticed them more.

William Temple, an Anglican bishop in the first half of the twentieth century said, “When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't.” He did not mean that his prayers caused the coincidences, but that when he prayed he was more alert to what happened.

What would happen if we each began to pay attention to moments of grace, of pure gift in life? Would we begin to see more of it, more of God acting in the world? And seeing more of it, would it begin to tune our lives to expect more of it? Might we begin to act in ways that offered more grace to others? Might we actually begin to become more visible signs for others?