Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Susan Schantz
Reading
Romans 8:28-30
Brothers and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to God’s purpose.
Reflection
Have you ever started a novel and after a few chapters wondered if you’ll make it through the book? Perhaps these first chapters have alternating narrators, with different points of view. The story may be set in different eras. Maybe the author has already introduced multiple characters, and you are struggling to keep track of them. You go back to reading, perhaps because you trust this writer or the friend who recommended the story.
At times our own lives are confusing stories. We may scramble to keep up with events and wonder what will happen next. Some days there seems to be neither rhyme nor reason to the actions of other characters, or even our own. Looking back and around and ahead, we may wonder about God’s presence and our future.
Paul preaches in the above excerpt from Romans and asserts that events and characters and plot are part of a wonderful story that God is writing. God’s plan is woven into the story. All will work out. Paul tells us that we can read our own stories with hope.
Prayer
God, be with me when I review my own story and when I reflect on the human story. Help me to read hopefully, even when events suggest an unhappy ending. Help me to recognize you in each chapter. Amen.
