Talking to Oneself: A Spiritual Discipline to Be Cultivated
Robert Cousins Download: Audio
Sunday Reflection
Read Elaine Poproski’s reflection, titled, “God Has Not Forgotten Us” from Sunday’s worship service. You’ll find it in the Sunday Reflections blog.
Sermon Notes
In this sermon, Robert quoted N.T. Wright, The Way of the Lord: Christian Pilgrimage Today. (William B. Eerdman’s: Grand Rapids, 1999), 36.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 42 (NRSV)
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, O God. Read more…
Looking to Sunday
by Elaine Poproski
I had an interesting and slightly heartbreaking conversation this week with someone who is searching for God. He’s been searching for God for a bunch of years. Every once in a while he has a moment or three when he senses God’s presence, but the moment is always fleeting. He’s gone to all sorts of different churches and tries all sorts of different practices and rituals in an attempt to bring that feeling on, but nothing works for long. I walked away from this conversation feeling sad and useless.
This isn’t the first person I’ve met who is longing for a spiritual connection to the divine. I’m a firm believer that this is a longing wired into our humanity from the beginning. Don’t we all want to experience what it is to be part of something bigger than ourselves? Don’t we all want to know what it is to be wired into some benevolent, spiritual force that is beyond the limited space of our own lives?
I am thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had in my own life when I’ve felt especially attuned to God’s presence. Often music is part of the experience. Nature is also particularly powerful. Sometimes it’s in the midst of a conversation or while listening to someone share their story, that I sense the sacred. I wonder if it’s this same longing that inspires some people to use drugs.
The reason I felt sad and useless after my conversation this week, was because I didn’t have the quick fix this person was looking for. I couldn’t promise that if he read the Bible (which he was already doing) or attended a worship service or let me baptize him, that anything would change. Instead, I told him that even when he can’t feel anything, God is there and God loves him. I told him that Jesus created a community and intended that His followers be part of that community. I invited him to give our community a try. I told him that it is in being known and loved by Jesus’ community that we experience being known and loved by God, regardless of whether or not we’re having a spiritual experience like he so desperately craved. But he would rather do life alone.
This Sunday we’ll be contemplating the words of Psalm 42, which is a prayer of longing for God. We’ll be reminded that regardless of whether or not we can feel God’s presence, He is always with us, always listening in on our innermost longings, and always loving us through them. As you prepare for Sunday, perhaps spend some time reading through this psalm out loud. Which of the psalmist’s words sound like your words? What is it that you need to hear from God these days? What of God are you longing to experience?