Pastor’s Paragraph - November 12, 2020
The Spiritual Journey
The spiritual journey is a way to seek and follow God’s will for our lives. Prayer is the way of grace to respond to Jesus’ invitation to ask, seek, and enter into our real (spiritual) lives. Prayer is the doorway to the continued journey. Even when we don’t think we are receiving an answer prayer sustains our relationship with God and keeps the conversation going. During this very unique period of time my sacrifice of face-to-face time has been enriched by a more intense desire for the friendship of God - also for my friendships with people through their books and even from Facebook. While I miss you all I have chosen to give thanks for each one of you, pray for you, and appreciate your unique contributions to my life.
I will be resigning my position as staff in our church at the end of November due to increasing inconveniences of arthritis. I am not getting around as well as I used to. It has been a joy to be called to work with the staff and members of Friedens. While I am retiring from my staff position and from counseling I will still be around to continue walking the faith journey with you as a congregations and as individuals. I want to continue in my journey of prayer and spiritual direction and hope there will continue to be opportunity to share that together.
I share this treasure with you:
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
—Teilhard de Chardin
