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Does God of the Universe really communicate with individual human beings? Christians (and people from other faith traditions) believe that the Divine does communicate with us on a personal level. God also communicates through the cosmos in ways we don’t comprehend, and the Divine works not just with individuals but entire communities. But Jesus demonstrated an ongoing personal relationship with God and encouraged his disciples—and, by extension, you and me—to do the same.
But how do we know we aren’t we just talking to ourselves in prayer—projecting our own needs, desires, beliefs, and prejudices onto this so-called relationship? Given the human tendency to center everything on the self, how can we possibly determine that a particular experience of wisdom, comfort, or instruction is from God?
“Ignatius was not praying when he made this first discernment of God’s communication; he was daydreaming. Moreover, both sets of daydreams had a quality of narcissistic, unrealistic ambition to them. Yet he came to believe that God used one set of such daydreams to draw him toward a new way of life. Because of experiences like these Ignatius came to believe that God is always communicating to us, that every experience has a touch of God in it. It is almost a motto of Ignatian spirituality that God can be found in all things. The only question is whether or not we will be aware of God’s presence” (Here’s My Heart, Here’s My Hand, 21).
The ultimate test of whether I’ve heard from God is the impact of that experience on my life. If I’m on an unhealthy or dangerous course, it is God’s voice that sounds warning and correction. That experience probably won’t feel good at the time, but if I listen and change my course, I will know the benefit of that conversation with God.
If I’m living in a way that is generally loving and wise, God’s voice will help me stay on that path. Sometimes, though, the voice that’s loudest at such times is not God’s. What I hear, growing louder in the background, is the voice of guilt and accusation, telling me I’m not good enough, or that I should have done something better, or that eventually people will know what a fake I am. This is the voice of the “enemy of our souls,” as St. Ignatius put it. Here’s what the biblical writer of Revelation had to say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God” (Rev. 12:10).
Even when God corrects us, the purpose is not to accuse and shame us but to heal and help us. I may feel great sorrow when God communicates to me that I’m in the wrong, that I am “grieving the Holy Spirit,” that I have caused harm. But such sorrow does not push me away from God—it draws me into the Divine embrace. The sorrow leads to renewal. This is true even when I don’t succeed quickly but struggle with a problem or situation for many years. God speaks to me always of hope.
A Spiritual Adventure for the Week
This week, prayerfully look back over the past year (or, if it’s easier, the past month or week) and try to identify times when God was speaking to you. Ask these questions:
- How did God speak in that situation? Through a friend’s advice or a family member’s concern? During my prayer time? Through a certain feeling or an intuition? Through a dream? Through a Scripture reading, the liturgy, a song or poem?
- What was my reaction at the time? How did I respond to God?
- What impact did that experience have on my life after that?
Today's devotion taken from Day's of Deepening Friendships |
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24-7 Prayer is doing a 5 minute video podcast every Monday-Friday during Lent.
Thanks to Shaun for the heads up!
Here is the video for today.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Mary’s Song
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
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Days of Deepening Friendship |
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Days of Deepening Friendship will be very active throughout the Lenten season providing daily meditations, scripture, prayers, etc. to help guide people on these 40 days of celebration to the cross.
Thursday After Ash Wednesday
I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. (Deuteronomy 30:19–2)
Choosing life is a moment-by-moment affair: a smile or a rebuff; a word of encouragement or a sarcastic rejoinder; a few minutes of silence in the midst of a busy day; a decision to give instead of take, to understand instead of criticize. Every personal choice for life makes all of us more fully alive.
Excerpted from 2010: A Book of Grace-Filled Days by Alice Camille
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This morning, I bid my wife, Leslie, a "Happy Ash Wednesday!" with a kiss - and why not!?!
Why not see the Lenten season as an opportunity to intentionally slow down, change gears, examine ourselves & as the prophet Joel says, "repent and return to me (God) with all your heart" (Joel 2:13)!?!
Although you wouldn't know it by looking outside this morning (for those of us in Southern Ontario) but Lent is a time of spring cleaning - a moving from the drear of winter into the thawing, newness & budding of spring! Think of it this way, "One liturgy refers to Lent as "this joyful season" because it is meant to lead us into the Church's springtime, a time when out of the darkness of sin's winter, a repentant, empowered people emerges." (Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent & Easter)
Most view Lent as a time to "give something up" and while not a bad idea - it is not an end in itself. Otherwise, like that failed New Year's resolution or botched diet or dusty elliptical machine - we wallow in self pity & guilt as we fail to follow through with our 40 day commitment. On the flipside, we determine to rightly & positively view our "giving something up" as a means to the end of "returning to God with all our heart." So, how will we find a way to do this over the next 40 days? What are the things of life that distract us; take our focus; consume our time & resources?
Consider these words from the article "Lent: An Invitation to Return to God" by Ruth Haley Barton:
Whether we fast from foods that comfort our emptiness, from caffeine or alcohol that keep us stimulated, from aspects of media or technology that keep us distracted, from words that keep us overly-enamored with our own thoughts, from mindless spending that keeps us numb, from addiction to the spotlight that keeps us dependent on other people’s praise…disciplines of fasting and other kinds of abstinence help us to clear the decks for spiritual action.
As we clear out the clutter in our souls, we become more finely attuned to what is really going on in our lives spiritually and the invitations that are there for us. As we experience a broken and contrite heart in the face of what we are seeing, the way is opened for God to teach us wisdom in our secret heart.
Ash Wednesday is also a day when we are invited to consider how we might shape our Lenten season in positive ways by entering into practices that help us respond to this deeper self-knowledge.
The Gospel reading for today (Matthew 6) highlights concrete disciplines that have the potential to loosen the grip of sin and distraction in our lives, thus creating more space for God. As we shape our Lenten disciplines, we might ask:
- How will I give? (v. 2, 3) Lent is a time for “giving things up” balanced by “giving to” those in need.
- How will I pray? (v. 5-13) As we “give up” some of our usual distractions, it creates more space for prayer. Perhaps there is a prayer practice (such as fixed hour prayer) that God is inviting us to during Lent.
- Who do I need to forgive and from whom do I need to seek forgiveness? (v. 14, 15) Seeking forgiveness and offering forgiveness creates space for God’s grace to flow in our lives.
- How will I fast? What is distracting me from my relationship with God? What do I need to abstain from in order to create more space for God and attentiveness to God? (v. 16-18)
- What earthly treasures am I attached to and how can I let go? The way we use our time, financial resources and energy reflect powerfully on what we treasure. Is there any specific way in which God is inviting us to “let go” of our attachment to some earthly treasure—at least for this season? (v. 19-21)
You are invited to check back daily as we journey through this Lenten season together - celebrating the joy of God's forgiveness and finding our hearts being warmed toward Him! Happy Ash Wednesday! |
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