Good afternoon, friends. This is Pastor Don from St. Johns UCC. Last Sunday I talked a little about how often we are absorbed in the day-to-day details of our lives and become so occupied with it that we simply are not aware of the parallel activities and intentions of God going on at the same time.
That is one of the big issues in the spiritual life, it seems to me. We are a people who need to learn to live, as it were, in two worlds at the same time. On the one hand are all of the necessary details of minding children, paying bills, going grocery shopping etc. On the other hand are things like listening for the inner promptings of God, asking for directions, and trying to bring just the right word of encouragement to a hurting neighbor! It’s not easy and it takes practice.
Perhaps it doesn’t seem worth the effort and yet, at the end of the day when we try to tally up just what we’ve done that really matters, we can see the value of training our ears and our hearts and minds to pay attention to the deeper and less noisy voices around us.
So, this is your reminder for the rest of the day! It is up to you how you spend it. Go for what counts the most in the long run.
LET’S PRAY: O God, you always long to be in relationship with us. We’re going to try to listen better. Please keep talking to us. Amen.