DAILY REFLECTION FOR LENT: WEDNESDAY MARCH 12TH People often ask how it is that God speaks to us in our day to day living, and I often respond that it is different for all of us, but for me it’s usually a combination of scripture, intuition, coincidence, and what I call the “freaky” factor (the four of these often combine to smack me in the head, so to speak). Well, if you’d like to see how that plays out, I can give you an example. Last night we met for our first session of this year’s Lenten program on healing prayer. At the session the leader, the Rev. Penny Gadzini, read a section from the gospel (scripture) in which Jesus encounters a man with a withered hand, and even though it was a Sabbath Jesus decided to heal him, telling him to “stretch out your hand”. In what is called “Imagery Prayer” (intuition) we were then asked to put ourselves in the scene and, among other things, wonder what in us Jesus might be asking us to hold out for healing. Now at this point I had absolutely (freaky factor) no doubt as to what Jesus was saying to me. I had just been wrestling in prayer the night before with a situation, the details of which are neither important nor would they be appropriate to share here. But the germane part is that I was wrestling in prayer with Jesus for hours, continually asking for understanding! I was asking for understanding of how the situation could have happened, could have been avoided, could be reconciled, and should be approached. Understanding, understanding, understanding, that’s so much like me, because so much about me takes place up between my ears. Moreover, Jesus kept pushing back, yet I could quite put my finger on where he was going. It was, to say the least, like Jacob wrestling all night with Angel of God. Needless to say, I was no match. So when Penny read the words from the Gospel, it was as clear to me as a bell that Jesus was saying, “Do you want understanding, dopey, or do you want my power to heal?” Ah, got it. Of course, my point this morning is that sometimes these types of experiences and conclusions are then confirmed by events (coincidence) in such a way that makes you laugh with joy. And so, here is the Epistle reading from today’s Morning Prayer, where St. Paul wrote, “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” Ah, got it … again.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 14:10:26 +0000
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