This week's prayer request

Picasso's "Guernica"

So this Sunday my pastor asked us to close our eyes and to paint a picture of what God's presence looks like. As he had anticipated, we answered with images such as rolling hills, blue skies, light, the heavens, etc.--though one our teenagers in the congregation, Jonathan, gave a unique answer: he saw an image of people trembling in fear. Other than that, everyone else had fluffy paintings in their heads. Thus, how often do we associate "God's presence" with war, killing, death, and disease? In fact, don't such realities challenge our ideas or notions about God? How could a loving God exist in the midst of this?

Of course, there is a pithy theological answer. There are even reasonable and logical philosophical answers. But PT's answer as presented in his sermon was simple, but hard to take. Simply, as Christians we live by faith and not by sight. Even though we can't see God, we MUST believe that God is present in our suffering. He's present in Haiti. He's there in Afghanistan. He's everywhere, involved, and doing his work.

My sister and I discussed this sermon quite a bit on the ride back home from church. We discovered that it was both our inclination to raise our hand after service and tell PT that what he was saying was too hard for us to take. Angelica was in Senegal for two years with the Peace Corps. Honestly, she's seen tragedy and suffering that most people in our church will have a hard time imagining. I've taught in an urban school for six years and quite frankly I'm exhausted from seeing the same problems and issues year to year. However, we also discovered that in the end we opted to say nothing because there's nothing more fundamental to our relationship with God than BELIEVING.

It's hard to believe in God. Still, for me, the story of my life so far has taken me on a path towards believing. Some thoughts of my own (that occurred during Sunday's sermon):

• There's a will to believe, and this is essential when we can't see God. However, I don't believe we're left with this device alone. In my own journey of faith, I've experienced God first and then willed myself to believe. Experiencing God is also essential--and goes a long way.
  
• Secondly, there's the Holy Spirit, the very spirit of Christ that inspires us or works for us to believe.

Having said this, this is my response to Sunday's sermon. I yearn for the presence of God in my life, in other people's lives, and in the world. And in my journey of faith so far, my prayer sounds like this: let's see where "believing" takes us. I feel like this sounds far from a "perfect" prayer but it's an honest one that comes from my heart. If you're like me, you can join me in this prayer.

God bless, Leanne