Room to Grow

I just finished my "Spiritual Growth Group" that meets on Thursdays on zoom.  We are starting a new book study - Richard Rohr's Everything is Sacred.  Its subtitle is" 40 Practices and Reflections on the universal Christ."  We always talk about a book a little and then have a "lectio divina"practice.

This week we talked about the path to spiritual transformation or spiritual growth.  It is a path that leads us from a sense of order, to disorder and then re-order. It is never easy to go through that sense of disorder or disorientation.  To quote the book:

"As we seek to grow in our spiritual lives, we can easily forget that suffering is a prerequisite to experience true transformation.  We need to be prepared to "take up our cross " and let go of old ways of seeing so that we can experience a new reality."

After we shared our own experiences we spent time with Psalm 4 which begins like this:

Answer me when I call, O God of my right!

You gave me room when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer

We found we resonated with the lines - you gave me room.  My experience is that when I have gone through a time of distress - God has given me room.  Room to experience my emotions, room to ponder the new reality, room to process and prepare.  I found myself reflecting on almost twenty years ago when I learned that my daughter was gay and how important it was for me to have room to come to a deeper understanding of God's love and presence in my life. I also have felt like I was given room to prepare for the death of my father, my sister and my husband.  It is hard to describe, but nonetheless real.

At the end of our time together today I shared the Psalm as interpreted by Eugene Peterson in The Message.  \\\

Here are his words

When I call, give me answers, God, take my side!

Once in a a tight place, you gave me room;

now I'm in trouble again, grace me!  Hear me!

That is the promise - that we are heard always by our God of love and that God is on our side.  The last verse in the Psalm is this:

At day's end, I'm ready for sound sleep,

for you, God, have put my life back together.

That is the re ordering that God does with us in this journey.  We go through times of distress and distrust and at some point we remember again - that God is good, God is love and God is on our side.

This is what I wrote in prayer:

You, God are putting my life back together

Help me to trust you with everything.

I fear the negative, critical voices that cause me to want to hide outBuit you Lord, are on my side

Help me to trust

to move forward

To trust you will answer my prayer

for You are on my side.

Amen

Keday

^7-8 Than they get in all their shopping sprees.
At day’s end I’m ready for sound sleep,
For you, God, have put my life back together.