Category: God’s presence

Courage, Faith, God's presence

Doing Something Surprising

Rev Kathy

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Blue Mountain Lake, Havana, Arkansas
Photo by Debbie Cannon Fritsche

Let’s do something surprising. In the midst of anxiety, let us be unafraid. In the time of anger, let us be peaceful. In the heart of turmoil, let us be a steady center. How easy it is to run with the crowd, driven by sound-bytes and rumors, racing to catch the news, chasing hope as if it were running to hide. Let us do something different. Let us be the rallying point for faith, the constant and consistent presence of a love that embodies justice, the quiet truth that knits lives together. Let us surprise ourselves with the strength we have when we stand to face the wind.

– Steven Charleston

The writing of Bishop Steven Charleston always prompts me to examine my faith. His words often dare me to grow, to find my voice, to live into my strength. This call to do something surprising is no different. It demands my attention and moves me beyond my faith’s comfort. I am grateful that Bishop Charleston challenges me to contemplate my faith and action.

I am always surprised when I discover that I really do have the strength to face the wind. It is, of course, a strength that comes from God. But it is also a strength that comes when I face anxiety, when I navigate my anger, when I am steady in times of turmoil. It a strength that grows every time God leads me through days of trouble and I discover anew that a God truly is a constant and consistent presence in my life.

May God move me on this day to do something surprising, Amen.

Family, God's presence, healing, Light

My Healing Days

Rev Kathy

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If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

– Psalm 139:11-12 NIV

I am drawn to light, to brightness and color. Dark shadows and muted hues can cause melancholy in me. And in those times, I try everything I can do to fill my day with brightness. It is a healing balm in troubling times.

In 2014, I spent most of the year very ill and in the hospital. As I recuperated at home, I found that I had no energy to surround myself with brightness and color. I did not notice it really, until my sister-in-law came to Little Rock for a visit. A seasoned decorator, she began to transform my surroundings in little ways. She and my brother also insisted that we relocate to Macon, Georgia so that we could be near enough for them to help Fred with my care.

They prevailed. We moved. Our belongings arrived at our new place (a place we had never laid eyes on) before we arrived. My family unpacked all our things, set up the house, and my sister-in-law filled the place with flowers, candles, and all kinds of beautiful things. We arrived late at night. When we walked into the house, it was filled with good smells, brightness and color. It looked like a Southern Living decorator house.

In that brightness and color, lovingly created by my family, I began to heal and get stronger. My days became day’s of calm. I was able to take my intense focus off of my illness and instead aim my gaze toward God. There was healing power in that, a transformative power that strengthened my spirit. The words of John Muir provide a lovely description of my healing days.

Oh, these vast, calm, measureless . . . days, days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God.

– John Muir

How grateful I am for the thousand windows open to God. How grateful I am for the love and care of my family, for the light, color and brightness that fills my life. How grateful I am for these healing days.

God's Faithfulness, God's presence

God’s Abiding Presence

Rev Kathy

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Sometimes when I’m in bed at night and sleep won’t come, I sing the words of a hymn to myself. Not to worry, I do not sing aloud so I don’t wake my husband. Last night one of the stanzas of the hymn “Abide with Me” came to mind.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

– Henry F. Lyte, 1847

There is no better balm for my soul than this hymn that is a simple prayer for God’s presence. It is an affirmation of the constant grace of God, through cloud and sunshine. It is an affirmation of God’s protection from the negative powers that can sometimes consume us. The hymn is calming and comforting, a song in the night that helped bring me a peaceful sleep free of fear.

“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
– Exodus 33:14

God's presence, Life Journeys, Life pathways

The God of Our Journeys

Rev Kathy

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Life is very much like a journey. As our days pass, we travel a path that leads us through valleys and mountains, forests and meadows, roads that present obstacles that hinder us. Many people have said life is not an easy road.

It’s not so much like a journey on planes, trains and automobiles. Its more like a soul journey, walking on pathways, steep and narrow, sometimes clear and sometimes ridden with obstacles. Sometimes smooth, often rocky. So we travel with the prayer that God will be walking with us.

God’s presence makes this journey possible. Through every darkened starry night, when the light of dawn appears, over bridges, across deep valleys and rocky ridges, God is close by. In times of war and times of peace, in days of sorrow and suffering, during times of great happiness, God is with us on this journey.

When the psalmist asks where he might go to be outside God’s presence, he declares:

Suppose I had wings
like the dawning day
and flew across the ocean.
Even then your powerful arm
would guide and protect me.
(Psalm 139:9-10, CEV)

Thanks be to the God of our journeys.