Morning run in the Valley of the Sun!
It seems like people speak to me more regularly in public when my hair is braided. I’ve noticed this from fellow African-Americans and from white people, alike! Perhaps one reason is because the braids make it easier to distinguish my African ancestry, and therefore people know how to classify me in their mind. Maybe it’s easier to talk to a Black woman than to talk to a racially-ambiguous woman.
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Sketch of our local church by 8-yr-old Chiara.
Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:
share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.
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Looking two weeks back! (I’m off-kilter in my blogging schedule, but God's word is outside of time, right?)
Mass has been great lately: our kids haven’t needed to exit church for behavioral reasons in months. Wow! Among the congregation, there seems to be tension around whether to wear a mask or not to wear a mask. About 50% of our community seems to go one way or the other. These are personal observations only!
With beautiful tapestries still hanging against the gorgeous backdrop of the church, the Easter Season is in full effect. My daughter Chiara sketched the scene during Mass. She was thrilled to show the parish priests afterward, and that they told her she was an amazing artist. Her excitement was a beautiful reminder of the blessing of meeting in the church! Meanwhile, the word that stood out to me was, “God is greater than our hearts.” -1 John 3:20
As the week progressed, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do about that word. At the same time, I started to feel not as close with the Lord and not as close with David. This would typically be a red flag! But as I looked at the reasons behind my emotion, I realized I was deep in the “practicals” of life, both in my prayer time and with David.
For instance, David and I continued to work through big ministry transitions. Re-acclimating to society is a whole project! Not to mention, caring for our four children. And this month of May, we will have out-of-town guests every week! It felt like we were spending a lot of time together but not necessarily a lot of individualized time!
And in prayer, I had a lot of spiritual writing to do for our podcast preparation. Sure, I was working through those items with the Lord. But it felt different, emotionally, than those times when simply I’m basking in His presence.
Through my word for the week, I felt the Lord asking me, “Are you still close with David?”
“Well, yes,” I thought.
“Are you still close with me?” Again, the answer was yes.
And it was a relief to remember that my emotions aren’t the central indicator of the truth! God, who is Love, is much greater than that.
How’s your heart today? Are you getting distracted by the daily demands of life? Perhaps, like Mary of Bethany, we are being called to find God’s presence in our own home in new ways. Maybe it’ll be a sacrifice to slow down and to simply be aware that Jesus is already here.
Reminder for myself: regardless of how I feel in the moment, the truth of His presence outlasts passing emotion.
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