Today’s Reading: Jonah
This morning I woke up still feeling discouraged from the challenge of yesterday but I realized that I woke up at the perfect time to comfortably get ready for church.
Obviously my car is having technical difficulties but one of the good things about where I live is that there is a delightful church called All Saints walking distance from my spot.
It is an Episcopalian Church
I walked over there and arrived about ten minutes before it started. During that time I meditated. It was nice to be in a church with quiet time to be alone with my thoughts. I thought about my car, the annoying things that happened this weekend and just before I could get too carried away with being negative the service started.
It was a beautiful service; full of the type of ritual that I was exposed to when I went to Catholic school. Some people don’t like this. They think that the procedures, the patterns, the standing up and sitting down are too much show. But I grew up on the other side of the spectrum. I went to non-denominational churches that were more charismatic. The ritual of All Saints is refreshing. The affirmations that are repeated every Sunday are clear cut confessions of Christian faith. It is nice to be reminded of them so often.
So after the opening hymns the pastor got into his message. He talked about the notion of becoming one with the consciousness of God within us. I interpret this as the Holy Spirit. We have achieved that oneness when the words and actions that come from us are God’s. It was a pretty powerful message.
After the main sermon they did communion. I participated and definitely felt the power of the experience. As I walked back to my pew and sat down I started falling into the same patterns of thought as when I first arrived at the church. I asked God why these things were happening to me. How was God going to solve some of the challenges in my life? What are the next steps?
And God answered!
It was that little voice that you hear from the depths of your soul. And you know it’s God when it tells you to do something in line with Jesus’ heart. (so if you have a voice inside you that is telling you to rob a bank, or snort some cocaine… odds are it’s probably not the big fella upstairs talking… I’m just sayin…).
I felt comforted that God listened to me and provided me with a clear direction. For a while I was feeling like Jonah. I was wondering why I’ve had to do all of this work just to meet challenge after challenge. I didn’t receive any promises, but I did receive instructions on some next steps.
And let me tell ya… these next steps will take some work. I have A LOT of writing to do…
Now that meditation week has come to a close I feel that I got the answer that I need. The week had many high points and some sad and disappointing points as well… But I am feeling recharged and ready to take another step along this crazy journey of purpose that is my life.
Thank you all for joining me in the process! Next week it will be back to our regularly scheduled program.
Breakfast: Egg Scramble with tomatoes, spinach, onions, and scallions
Lunch: Pan seared salmon with sautéed spinach
Dinner: More salmon and strawberries and a banana
Beverage of the day: Good old fashioned water.
Chuuuuuuuch
