O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you;* my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a barren and dry land where there is no water. Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place,* that I might behold your power and your glory.
Psalm 63: 1 & 2

Where do you find God? Many of us have a sense of God when we walk inside Memorial Church. We have a sense of God as we sit in the church during the Sunday service and the music, the words of Scripture and liturgy waft over us and glide through our souls. But how do we find God when we are not in the holy place? Where is God for us in our everyday life? This is why some sort of prayer life is important--a way of making space for God in our lives. A time to sit in God's presence other than within the walls of the church building. It seems now that time no longer permits a space for God. It didn't always seem to be this way. In Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn puts it this way:

In earlier times our activities were much more in step with the cycles of the natural world. People stayed put more. They didn't travel very far. Most died in the same place that they were born and knew everybody in their town or village. Daylight and night dictated different life rhythms. Many tasks just could not be done at night for lack of light. Sitting around fires at night, their only source of light and heat, had a way of slowing people down--it was calming as well as warming. Staring into the flames and the embers, the mind could focus on the fire, always different, yet always the same. People could watch it moment by moment and night after night, month after month, year after year, through the seasons--and see time stand still in the fire. Perhaps the ritual of sitting around fires was mankind's first experience of meditation. (Kabat-Zinn, p. 356)

I have always found a good fire a good way to slow down my body and soul and find a sense of timelessness, a sense of God. Growing up, we always lived in old houses and so had old fireplaces which we used. Many evenings in the year until the heat of summer were spent by the fire--reading, doing a project, playing games, talking together, or just staring into the flames. During my high school years, I loved the evenings when my father would build a fire in the library where I studied. Once I finished my work, I loved to turn off all the lights and just stare at the burning embers. I have felt the same around campfires--as my eyelids grow heavier and heavier and my body yearns for the sleeping bag or cabin bunk, my soul longs to stay in front of the fire. This past weekend, we were able to have two good fires in our living room fireplace. How relaxing.. How my soul and body were nourished by reading and then just sitting and staring into the fire. There are many other slow ways in life by which we can nourish our souls. A long meal, full of good conversation. A day in the garden. A walk in town alone or with someone you love. These too are ways to find God in our lives. How I long for a return to that pace of life once again. Is it gone forever? I don't think so-- we just have to choose to bring our time into the natural rhythms of life, not the rhythms of our 21st century world. It is a hard choice to make; it seems downright impossible. However, it is possible. It is part of eagerly seeking God-- again, making the time and just showing up! Knowing in your heart that your soul and body are fed.

Text: Psalm 63

Pondering: How do you find God in your daily life? What helps you to make a space for God?

In Christ's Love,