Streams of Mercy
One of my favorite parts of ministry is hearing folks share their faith journey. While we encourage Elders and Deacons to do so during their period of training before their Ordination and Installation, it’s something all of us should do from time to time. Actually, it’s more a sharing of one’s journey of “life and faith” for each informs the other!
Ann Lamotte wrote “Traveling Mercies” and she shares a prayer about our journeys of life and faith: “Traveling mercies. Love the journey. God goes with you. Come home safe and sound.” A beautiful prayer to pray over our years of living!
As Presbyterians, we have an understanding of our faith journey – beginning at our baptism, continuing through our Confirmation and membership in any number of churches in different times and places, and throughout our lives as we continue to grow in our understanding of faithful discipleship and service. The journey continues on into eternity, when we see Christ face to face. It’s important that we have an understanding of life’s journey as well, for it is in life’s experiences that come our way that our faith is tested and tried and strengthened, as we come to see the ways God is always with us.
I like to encourage folks to take a sheet of paper and divide it into columns by decades of living, and reflect upon the life experiences of each decade and how those life experiences drew upon our faith resources as we journeyed. Another way of approaching this exercise is to draw a river with different streams feeding into it from first one side and then the other. The river is our years of living; the streams flowing into it are the life experience that change our course or deepen our journey. Often it’s only in looking back that we are able to see the hand of God at work in our lives.
At a recent Presbytery Officer Training Class, we considered the story of Moses and all the excuses he came up with for not answering God’s call. There were actually five excuses: “I’m not adequate to the task; I don’t know enough; People won’t take me seriously; I’m no good with words; I’m not willing.” God’s response each time was to remind Moses, “I will be with you.” To know that is a blessing, and is enough!
As we continue on our journeys of life and faith, in looking back, may we come to see all the ways God has been with us, and may we look forward to God’s faithfulness in all the years to come. “Traveling mercies. Love the journey. God goes with you. Come home safe and sound.”
Elizabeth