God Is With Us

My Friends,

This is a time of uncertainty in our world.  We have been asked to stay in our homes and keep distance from each other.  We don’t know how long this is going to last.  We don’t know how many people will become infected with COVID-19.  We don’t know the long term effects of this crisis on our country or world.  Anxiety.  Stress.  Compromised physical, mental, and financial health.  It’s a lot.  Let’s take a minute to breathe together. 

Breathe in.

Hold it.

Breathe out.

God is with us.

This week, Sunday’s Gospel, the 9th Chapter of John, Christ heals the man blind from birth by wiping clay on his eyes and commanding the man to wash in a pool.  The man washes and is able to see. 

Can you imagine the revelations that the man has now being able to see?  Coming to understand colors, facial expressions, ease of movement and interaction, changes in light and shadow… so many intricacies unlocked by Christ’s act. 

God is at work in our lives, too.  Thursday prayer at Nazareth Farm invites reflection on where God is at work in our lives each week.  Lent is a time to look at our lives and reevaluate how we want to be living.  Thinking about the past 4 weeks, have you noticed any fruits of your additional fasting, almsgiving, or prayer?  Have you found spaces for quiet?  Space to breathe life into your everyday hurrying?  Where has God been at work?  Where have you been working with God?

Breathe in.

Hold it.

Breathe out.

Sometimes I like to imagine sitting on the front porch swing at the Farm.  Watching the creek go by, waving to the occasional car on the road, swinging slowly.  I can inhabit this space and consciously relax into prayer.  Do you have a calm place to imagine in stressful moments? 

Breathe in.

Hold it.

Breathe out.

Jesus opened the man’s eyes to something new in his life.  Let us look with the eyes that God gave us.  Let us remember to breathe and Expect a Miracle.

By Susan (Newman) Hollis, previous staff member at Nazareth Farm