When you feel lonely, longing to be seen,
To be heard, to be touched,
it’s loneliness for God.The emptiness that cries out in you is holy,
it is the loneliness of God, God’s longing to be heard, to be seen, to be known,
God’s emptiness for you.Sit with that longing. Embrace that loneliness.
Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes
In that holy ache is hidden your deepest joy.
This meditation explains for me the emptiness that arises within me more often than I want to recognize. During this time of isolation we have craved relationships, hugs, talking freely with each other. Hopefully, we are coming to the time when all of this is becoming more real.
However, sometimes we sit and feel remorse. Steve tells is that this feeling is “Holy”– God is seeking us just as we are seeking God.
During the week we offer at least these three special times on Zoom when we can “sit with that longing”.
One is on Tuesday afternoons at 3:00 p.m., PRAYING TOGETHER, where we offer our prayers for each other, those who have special needs, and those who have been listed in the Sunday morning Prayers Concerns. Please join us any time – or if you have special needs, please contact shirley@dayspring-umc.organd we will pray for your requests.
Another is Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m., TIME TO WONDER, when we gather to share and to feel the amazement of God’s Presence through lectio divina, guided meditation, story telling, centering prayer, and other spiritual disciplines. All are welcome!
The third opportunity is Friday mornings at 10:30 a.m., OPENING TO GOD, is a time of silence, music, reflection, prayer, and personal meditation. At the end of the week we experience a Spiritual Examen of how God is present in our every day happenings.
~Pastor Shirley