So I welcomed the opportunity to reflect on these questions anew last Sunday, and they've been reverberating in my mind the past few days. As a pastor mom, I want to choose growth everyday. And I believe that if I focus on these three questions, all of life's unpredictable and out-of-our-control circumstances begin to fall into a better place, a richer experience, a more holy perspective.
Why Worship? Aside from the obvious fact that I truly believe in the Triune God, I worship mostly to be reminded that God is God and I am not. This kind of perspective allows me to process what goes on in the wide-wide world, but also within my interpersonal relationships. I am reminded, lest I get all self-righteous, that I fall short of God's glory on my own. God is worthy of worship, and I am not; in essence, I suppose I'd say it keeps my focus outward and upward, and worship gives me the opportunity to see God at work all around me. It's only when I can see God at work, that I can learn to lend my hands to the service of God's Kingdom.
Why Church? This is perhaps an even more intriguing question, especially for my contemporaries who increasingly find the church less relevant to a life of worship. I told my congregation Sunday, "We can worship anywhere, why specifically the church?" It's a question that's been on my mind a whole lot as a young pastor (30 is young, right?), and I've come to truly believe that the church is a spiritual home. We don't spend all our time at home, of course, but we do function in society with greater confidence and a grounded sense of self when we have a nurturing home environment. This is true for our families of origin and for our families of faith. Family is a community of people who "get us," a group of folks who can frolic (or trudge) through life together. This is the role of a family...and the family of God, in my experience, happens to meet in a church.
Why Prayer? I love this question, because it's such a HARD question to answer with certainty. Why do I pray? Sometimes, if I'm honest, I'm not sure. I pray first and foremost because I believe in a God who cares, but I also pray because I've come to understand myself as exactly this: a person who prays. Prayer takes many forms; sometimes I pray at length, sometimes I simply take a deep breath and sense God's movement in my midst. Sometimes I pray with others, sometimes on my own. Sometimes I write my prayers, sometimes I cry my prayers, sometimes I can't bring myself to pray, so I ask for the prayers of others. The bottom line for me is that prayer, in some mysterious and inexplicable way, changes me. And so if I want to be a person who grows, then I need to be a person who prays.
Together, worship, church, and prayer connect me to my God, a God who transforms everyday experiences into holy occasions...a God who takes my hand as I try to faithfully follow the ways of Jesus. My true transformation occurs when I embrace the reality that I am not alone; nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful truth to guide our days, especially those when difficult circumstances attempt to cloud our vision and hinder our hope.
Need to feel a connection with God? (ahem, Emily?), try worship, try church, try prayer.
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| Sunset that inspired me on my way home from a church meeting. This makes a commute totally worth it! |
