Saturday, January 3, 2015

Dear God,

Your word gives faith.  Your spirit lifts the words off the page, allows them to breathe, to dance, and to sing.  Your word gives life.

Never before have I sought to live inside your word.  I am sorry to say I let days, weeks, and months go by without sitting with your word.  I prepared sermons, used scripture to comfort the weary, and wove the biblical texts into retreats.  But I rarely took time to sit at your feet, to read, to pause, to listen, and to savor your written word.  A trip to the mountain stirred something within me.  I longed for your word and you spoke to my heart.

As I read the letters of St. Paul, I am enabled to step inside this man of God.  I get to accompany him on his journey of faith.  I see his own longing and desire to follow you.  I allow my own spirit to rejuvenate, to revel in the fountain of living water, and to sing and dance with those whose faithfulness emerged as they walked among the faithful.  Above all, I am invited to tarry with you, to see and hear the sights and sounds of faith, and to bend low, shake off my sin, and rise in newness of life.

Holy God,
my heart
is full
of gratitude.
No one gives
like you.
Make me
a vessel
of faith,
let your light
shine through me,
and permit me
to become
a living word
for you,
I pray.

Love, Andrea