An encounter with God

a verse or two

For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love. Galatians 5:6 [The Message]

Spiritual Walk and Musings: An encounter with God.

How are we to behave during the long wait for God to speak and act in response to the world's injustice? In parts of the book Habakkuk, the prophet talks about those who try to seal themselves off from noticing the distress of the world by accumulating so much personal gain that they never need to come into contact with suffering. And for others escapism is the only way of avoiding the issues (alcohol is the method he mentions). He also talks of those who, having made a fortune at the expense of others, rejoice in the system that allows it to happen (he compares them with fishermen who pillage the sea of every last fish and then worship their nets). 

In these verses Habakkuk warns that some will give up waiting for God and turn their worship to other things - inanimate things that shimmer with gold and silver (or bleep or speed or flash lights or gather dust in a hundred ways). 

Objects that humans have created can be valuable in the quest to alleviate poverty. But in the end only a change of heart can bring lasting justice, not a change of technology. And it is an encounter with the holy God which changes hearts. 

Why not today seek out silence. Try to find a place without the clamour of human voices or the buzz of machines. In the silence, remind yourself of the size and power of the holy God. Then tell him what your hopes, fears and priorities are at the moment. [adapted from www.surefish.co.uk]

To Pray and Ponder: The ancient 'Liturgy of St James' translated by Gerard Moultrie.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, 
and with fear and trembling stand; 
Ponder nothing earthly-minded, 
for with blessing in his hand 
Christ our God on earth descendeth, 
our full homage to demand. 
Amen 

A short reading from Habakkuk 2:18-20 

“What use is an idol once its maker has shaped it - a cast image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in what has been made, though the product is only an idol that cannot speak! Alas for you who say to the wood, 'Wake up!' to silent stone, 'Rouse yourself!' Can it teach? See, it is gold and silver plated, and there is no breath in it at all. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him!”

God Bless, Jon