Today's Word

Today’s Word: Unbelief

Steve · October 2, 2013 · 2 Comments

Foxtail weed at the end of summer. SJG photo

In response to Jesus’ statement, “Everything is possible to one who has faith,” the father of a possessed child in Mark 9 cries out: “I do believe, help my unbelief!” And with those words, perhaps not a more honest statement of faith has ever been spoken.

As a spiritual director, I have met with individuals who tell me that they are not sure they believe in God or that they have doubts in the divinity of Christ. Fair enough. In fact, a little disbelief or doubt on occasion might be just what we need to draw ourselves closer to God and see again with new eyes and fresh senses all that God has to offer. The opposite of doubt is not necessarily faith. The opposite of doubt may be a numb, mindless walk through life where we don’t stop to think about much of anything one way or another. That’s a sadder life that offers little chance to see the grace in the world around us. At least doubt says, “I’m not sure,” and perhaps opens the door to belief, especially if we’re willing to pray: “I’m not sure I believe in you but…if you’re there…help me out a little.” That’s faith, perhaps the size of a mustard seed, and it’s all we need. For that little nugget of faith helps us overcome our doubts, helps us to not be too overwhelmed by our disbelief. Faith is a gift, a chance to glimpse the sacred in an all-too-faulty human world. Faith allows us to embrace what we don’t understand, knowing that this “sacred ambiguity” nevertheless draws us closer to the mystery of God. What we need is just enough faith to ask for more.

Ask yourself in silence: Can I find belief in my disbelief? Do I have enough faith to ask for a little more?

Today’s Word: Known

Steve · September 28, 2013 · Leave a Comment

I realize I repeat myself on this particular notion perhaps a bit too often, but it lies at the very heart of my spirituality and I just can’t help it: God knows us by name. If not for this belief that we are known and loved — personally as well as communally as church — I’m not sure I could muster the energy to get out of bed and go to church, or read scripture or pray or care about the world around me. I realize plenty of non-believers care about the world and those around them, of course. But I can only speak for myself. Somewhere in the back of my mind there’s this voice that says, “You are mine,” and that’s what gets me out of bed, physically and metaphorically. It’s what gets me through both ordinary and extraordinarily rough days.

In John’s gospel (10:1-21) we hear the story of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, where Jesus is both the gate that keeps the enemy at bay and the shepherd who knows each and every one of his sheep and cares deeply if even one of them goes missing. Perhaps more crucially for us, we recognize the voice of the shepherd and will follow it wherever it goes. He says, “come here, sheep,” and we follow. Blindly follow? Not really. We know very little — simple, silly sheep that we are — but we do know what’s good for us most of the time. We follow the voice that says, “You are mine,” because it provides all we need. Our vision of God may — and probably should — change over time, but that voice that called us remains the same. And faith, Paul tells us in Romans 10:17, comes through hearing.

Ask yourself in silence: When did you first hear a call to believe, to hear Christ’s voice in your life? Are their other voices that drown out the gentle call of the shepherd?

Today’s Word: Well

Steve · September 27, 2013 · 2 Comments

“You do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep…” John 4:11

When I was a child, we spent many weekends at a “country place” owned by friends. This was back in the 1960s and early ‘70s, and the simple cabin on 80 acres in Gasconade County, Missouri didn’t have indoor plumbing or running water. So if we wanted water, we had to pump it from the old red cistern well, a crank-type contraption that usually required eight or nine good turns before water would come flowing from the spigot. I can still feel the handle in my hands; can still count the turns in my mind. You had to go deep, but it was worth the work and the wait. The water was cool, fresh and clean. I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to fetch water on my own, for that was a sure sign that I was growing up.

In John’s gospel, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and asks her for a drink, even though he had no bucket in which to catch the water. This story is really about Jesus offering her “living water,” that will make her never thirst again, but within that story, for me, is this idea of the well as prayer, as a place that we must go as we mature in Christ, a place that takes a little work and some patience, a place that delivers Jesus himself, becoming for us both the water and the well, the sustenance and the source. We must go to this source often, armed with a bucket to catch the life-giving water that comes from deep within, left there for us to fetch by the giver, the creator, the spirit of life. Or if not a bucket, at least outstretched hands ready to receive.

Ask yourself in silence: How often do I go to the well? What’s keeping me from going deep?

Today’s Word: Decisions

Steve · September 25, 2013 · 2 Comments

Robert Frost’s most famous poem begins with these inviting lines:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler…

The poet reminds us that we are faced with choices every day, and sometimes one choice looks just as good as the other. In fact, Frost goes out of his way to say that these two infamous roads were pretty equal. In the end, he chooses one simply because it looked “less traveled” and saved the other one for another day. Sometimes there’s no right or wrong path, just a decision about which one to travel down on any given day. On the other hand, sometimes paths matter very much.

The truth is, we are faced with decisions day in and day out. Often these choices seem insignificant or of no real concern. One road or the other, who cares? But, in fact, these daily choices define us, especially as they relate to our moral lives and to the ways we relate to one another. The little things matter — every twist and turn in our life’s road, every time we reach out to help (or not reach out and help) someone in need— and they add up to much bigger things. Our lives of prayer, reflection and service guide these decisions and keep us in tune with God and God’s will for our lives. Everyday we have the opportunity to say “yes” to God, to turn and face the way of love. Or as another naturalist poet and writer, Annie Dillard, once wrote: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

Ask yourself in silence: How do I live my days? Am I aware of all the choices I make or fail to make every day?

Today’s Word: Clarity

Steve · September 24, 2013 · 1 Comment

I enjoy technology, perhaps a little too much. It allows me to publish this blog, after all. And then there’s Facebook, where I keep up with all my “friends,” and Twitter where I share brilliant nuggets of wisdom 140 characters at a time. I buy music on ITunes and record my favorite TV shows with my DVR so I can watch them whenever I want. Like it or not, we live in a plugged-in world of constant messages and invasive images. We are surrounded on all sides by noise, pictures, news, knowledge and entertainment. None of these are bad things in and of themselves. But taken together, this ever-present media blitz can overtake our lives and block out any kind of an interior life or conversation with God. We try to find moments of prayer and attempt to catch glimpses of the divine, but images swirl in our heads and we have a hard time seeing the light of truth.

But moments of clarity are possible, even in the midst of a muddy, befuddled world. Instances of clear-blue reality sometimes cut through the clouds when we least expect it. A verse of scripture we have heard many times before offers us something new. We read the right book at just the right time. A song comes on the radio that seems sung for us alone. A conversation with a friend reveals a truth that had been hidden or ignored. Clarity. Truth. God moves through and in our lives all the time. Clarity comes with our awareness, with unplugging and paying attention, with allowing God to “show up” in our lives and speak.

Ask yourself in silence: What keeps me from seeing and hearing God with clarity? When was the last time I found a message from God in the words or actions of others?