Good morning…
“God cares,” she quietly responded after yesterday’s post Does Anyone Care? “This is beautiful, Sue. I feel so alone right now and need to be reminded that I am never alone. Thank you.”
God’s living Word carried on our conversation.
“You are right,” I emailed back. “God cares. God loves you relentlessly, forever and always. You have heard the truth of God’s living Word. The Spirit of God dwells in you, just like that Spirit dwells in me and in everyone given the gift of breath.”
“Now it is time for us to accept God’s Word fully, to let this truth become flesh in us, not just for ourselves but to carry God’s loving presence to the many who are asking, ‘Does anyone care?’” I continued. “I love the thought that God’s Word is not brought to the ends of the earth in suitcases. It starts in the depth our hearts and expands in our home. It is nurtured in our families and through our authentic friendships. It is shared through our compassionate creativity and overflows into our community. We carry God’s living Word in ourselves, deep down, all the time.”
“It is essential for us to take time to listen, to trust the One who can be trusted, to be guided by that still small voice whispering, ‘Right now, this is yours to do and that is not yours to do,'” I explained. “We follow that sound of the genuine in us, that which brings us more alive, like breadcrumbs of manna trailing out to the ends of the earth.”
“Please reach out to me any time you feel nudged by God,” I ended my return email to this person I have never met. “I am grateful to be on this daily walk with you and God.”
At some point in our lives many of us will relate to this email string and to the experience painfully expressed in Psalm 142:3-7 (MSG): “As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away, you know how I’m feeling, know the danger I’m in, the traps hidden in my path. Look right, look left— there’s not a soul who cares what happens! I’m up against the wall, with no exit— it’s just me, all alone. I cry out, God, call out: ‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’ Oh listen, please listen; I’ve never been this low. Rescue me from those who are hunting me down; I’m no match for them. Get me out of this dungeon so I can thank you in public. Your people will form a circle around me and you’ll bring me showers of blessing!”
Released from my own dungeon of depression in 2005, I thank God in public for the people who continue to form a supportive circle around me, showering me daily with the blessings of God. When we feel most deeply alone, I pray that each of us eventually hears, sees, and actively trusts the trustworthy presence of our living Lord.
…Sue…
P.S. For those who live near Atlanta, I am inviting you to save the date for an important learning opportunity at Northside Church during Lent. The link for registration will become active next week, but, for now, prayerfully ponder if you might join us for a round table discussion four Wednesdays in March.
Women’s Lenten Lunch and Learn Series – Interactive teaching by Sue Allen, Women’s Ministry Director
Wednesdays 11:30 am to 1:00 pm in the Faith and Arts Center
As we climb out from our two-year, hard-and-holy hibernation, let’s explore together the wisdom of Paula D’Arcy’s Winter of the Heart: Finding Your Way through the Mystery of Grief. What have we lost and what have we gained? During this season of Lent, we walk with Jesus, a man of sorrows who was well acquainted with grief, as he paves the way to our own cross, frees us from our tomb of timidity, and invites us to embody the resurrection power of the living Christ.
Cost: $50 – Cost of the class includes book and lunch each week.
Please join us as often as you are able:
3/2 Welcome, introduce study and hand out books
3/9 No Class – Spring Break
3/16 Discuss Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2
3/23 Discuss Chapters 3 & 4
3/30 Discuss Chapters 5, 6 & 7
