Psalm 27
"From one ancestor God made all
nations to inhabit the whole earth . . . so that they would search for God and
perhaps grope for God and find God, though indeed God is not far from each one
of us." ~ Acts 17:26-27
As many of you will remember,
back in the spring – so long ago! I undertook some study leave: Two different
courses in February and April. The first was all about transformation through
conflict – a strange concept, but one which gave me some very helpful and
interesting insights, and the second one was about being a pilgrim: a traveller
moving from one place to another; either physically or spiritually. It was
about travelling to the Holy Land – Palestine / Israel; but it was also about
travelling within yourself to discover more about God: for we are all pilgrims,
even though we will not all travel to the Holy Land.
Some of the journeys we make
are completely life-changing: as we make discoveries, or encounter new things, new
people, new places, new situations our view of the world changes; our place in
the world changes; and who we are changes as we encounter God in the most
unexpected corners of life.
During the course, Ruth our
speaker, told us about a journey she had made to Jerusalem and the holy places,
with a group of total strangers. She quoted from the book she had written. She
took us with her, not into Jerusalem and Bethlehem and Galilee, but rather into
an encounter with God. And although we did not travel out of the conference
room in Edinburgh – we felt that we had journeyed long and hard during those
four days, Ruth used some interesting and often challenging quotes through the
different sessions.
“A pilgrim is open to where the Spirit leads...even if that’s uncomfortable...”
The words of the Psalm remind
us of this:
It describes times, places and
situations which are frightening and difficult- but assures those who listen
that in all these things – God is there.
And the psalmist responds, by
praising God!
Thus when we too journey into
the unknown we are reminded that:
“A pilgrim has the opportunity to brush against the presence of the Divine.”
Being
in God’s presence – in the presence of the divine can happen in so many
different ways: up on a mountaintop, down by the sea, in the beauty of a new
born child, in the holiness of holding the hand of a beloved one who struggles.
And,
for me in recent times, in the holy moments of grief and death.
In
all of these different times and places, I am sure each of you has your own
story to tell, your own experience of discovering God, when you least expected
it, for,
“What you expect to happen on a spiritual journey will not happen.”
The psalmist concludes his
journey into difficulty and out the other side with a pilgrim statement:
Trust in the Lord. Have faith
and do not despair. Trust in the Lord.
So we too travel;
through sickness and health;
through success and failure;
through hard times and good,
knowing that it may be hard or painful or confusing or distressing, but in it
all, we are never alone.
For God travels the road with
us, sending other pilgrim travellers to shine the light, and share the load
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