Greetings,
Throughout October we were considering the meaning of faith--experiencing the 'Real Presence' of God. Now, we take some time to consider our experiences of absence--when we do not feel as if God is really present or when our life experiences threaten to eclipse our seeing God really present.
The Wilderness Experience is our context for considering 'absence'. please read through the following questions as a way to consider the presence and absence of God in your life, as well as--very importantly-- your presence or absence before God.
Faithfully yours,
Tom
THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE
For the ancient Israelites it was 40 years in the desert
with many and long stretches of experience and emotion
as strangers in a strange and hostile environment.
Of course, on the move through the desert, the people did not feel at home in this world.
More than once, they did not feel at home with their leader Moses, or even with their G-d, Yahweh.
What about for you; what have your desert experiences been like?
[Have you experienced any scary last minute escapes from trouble, crossing a kind of red sea of your own, coming out on dry land on the other side and rejoicing; yet soon finding yourself again in a confusing or painful desert which depleted you and threatened to deplete you even more?
What about hungers and thirsts?
Metaphorical as well as actual sickness, loss and death along the way(--after all, not everyone you started out with is still with you on the journey)?]
Are there ways in which you feel not at home, or out of place,
in the world?
[What have been some of your experiences? How did you respond/react/deal?]
Do you ever experience feeling not at home or out of joint
in the church?
[Again, what is that like and how have you handled it?
Also, are any of your experiences of feeling not at home in the church connected to that same stranger/alien feeling about "the world"--society, work, politics, retirement, money, family and friendslover/partner/spouse, values, time:continuity and change or relentless sameness?]
Mountain tops and Promised lands--
Have you had expectations of church
that have not come through for you?
What did Moses and the Hebrews do throughout their desert journey?
As the journey neared its end, what happened to Moses and the Hebrews?
What are you doing?
What is going to happen to you?
For the ancient Israelites it was 40 years in the desert
with many and long stretches of experience and emotion
as strangers in a strange and hostile environment.
Of course, on the move through the desert, the people did not feel at home in this world.
More than once, they did not feel at home with their leader Moses, or even with their G-d, Yahweh.
What about for you; what have your desert experiences been like?
[Have you experienced any scary last minute escapes from trouble, crossing a kind of red sea of your own, coming out on dry land on the other side and rejoicing; yet soon finding yourself again in a confusing or painful desert which depleted you and threatened to deplete you even more?
What about hungers and thirsts?
Metaphorical as well as actual sickness, loss and death along the way(--after all, not everyone you started out with is still with you on the journey)?]
Are there ways in which you feel not at home, or out of place,
in the world?
[What have been some of your experiences? How did you respond/react/deal?]
Do you ever experience feeling not at home or out of joint
in the church?
[Again, what is that like and how have you handled it?
Also, are any of your experiences of feeling not at home in the church connected to that same stranger/alien feeling about "the world"--society, work, politics, retirement, money, family and friends
Mountain tops and Promised lands--
Have you had expectations of church
that have not come through for you?
What did Moses and the Hebrews do throughout their desert journey?
As the journey neared its end, what happened to Moses and the Hebrews?
What are you doing?
What is going to happen to you?
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