Good morning…

At our final Bible study gathering for the semester, we each identified “Words of the Soul,” words, sentences, and quotes we would take with us from our Friday discussions of Jan Johnson’s When the Soul Listens.

Collectively, some of our most memorable words are: Pause. Listen. Wait. Trust. Space. Abide. Soak.

Favorite sentences include: “Jesus is relentlessly relational…’Start the car!’ he says.” “When in doubt, wait.” “Our spirit is on tiptoe – alert and listening.” “The silence of God is the greatest test of our faith.” “I must never think I am on my own.” “Holy Spirit think through me till your ideas are my ideas.” “Wise souls will find it a relief to no longer be ‘attached to their own efforts.'” “Give much time to quietness.” “Pay attention, God may be in this.” “…the border between a rich inner life and the active outer life is permeable.” “To pray with openness, willing to let God set the agenda, requires a brave, adventurous person.” “The silence of God and of Jesus is not of indifference. It is the silence of higher thoughts.” “…God is fitting stone to stone in his plan for the world and for our lives, even though we can see only a confused and meaningless jumble of stones heaped together under a silent heaven.”

Here is one quote summing up all of our semester’s learning: “Does continuous prayer seem impossible? If so, ‘the problem…lies in our understanding of prayer,’ wrote Juliet Benner. ‘Rather than thinking of prayer as communicating with God, think of it as openness to God…Think of what a difference it would make to our life if we were to live with a steady awareness of God’s presence in the midst of our daily lived experience. This comes from a spirit that is turned toward God in openness and trusting attentiveness'” (Juliet Benner, Contemplative Vision: A Guide to Christian Art and Prayer, 55-56). Openness. We can all choose openness, day after day.

Remain open, living in steady awareness and trusting attentiveness to God’s presence in the midst of everyday life. I suppose we have discovered together what it means to effortlessly pray without unceasing. Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, GNT).

…Sue