As the wind blows through the chimes today, what do you hear?
A personal reflection
We were introduced to Job in our Sunday reading (10/7/12 – Job 1:1; 2:1-10). I encourage you to read all of Chapters 1 and 2. Today, I share some observations (from what we read and with a little bit of peeking ahead):
- Job has it all, and with his wife and family gives thanks
- Job has nothing, and less than nothing, and with his wife by him, he gives thanks
- God was present in plenty and Job “knew” God
- God was present in the darkness, and now Job really began to know God
- Before my illness, with my wife and family, I gave thanks
- In the depths of my illness, near death, my wife and family near, I gave thanks
- God was present in plenty and I “knew” God
- God was present in the darkness, and now I have really begun to know God
Where do we encounter God? In the present; we always encounter God in the present moment. Whether the moment is filled with light, or in the shadow, or in complete darkness, God is present, seeking the seeker and ready, always ready, to be found. As I write I have no doubt that you know the truth of Job’s story, that you know the truth of my story. You know because you have someone in your own life teaching you this wisdom; or you know because you are the one teaching others this wisdom. May God bless us all with the wisdom to understand.
What I said stated more eloquently
God is in the breeze, in the very atmosphere around us, in the little things that shape our lives. God is in the contradictions that assail us, in the circumstances that challenge us, in the attitudes that impel us, in the motives that drive us, in the life goals that demonstrate our real aspirations, in the burdens that wear us down, in the actions that give witness to the values in our hearts. God is in the stuff of life, not in the airy-fairy of fertile imaginations bent on the pursuit of the preternatural. God is where we are, including in the very weaknesses that vie for our souls.
God is not a mystery to be sought in strange places and arcane ways. God is a mystery to be discovered within us and around us. And savored.
Joan Chittister “Discovering the mystery of God” in Ideas in Passing on Benetvision.org. This paragraph is excerpted from her post which is itself an excerpt from “O Wonder of Wonders,” by Joan Chittister in How can I find God?, ed. James Martin, S.J. (Triumph Books)
A prayer
Never a trial that
He is not there.
Never a burden that
He does not bear.
Never a sorrow that
He does not share.
Moment by moment
I’m under His care.
—D.W. Whittle in Prayers for Healing Maggie Oman (Ed.), p. 205
Hear what the Spirit is saying 