I’ve had a few questions to consider in preparation for the second Stepwise session this evening. Here are my thoughts on some of them:
What is my own image of God?
When I think of God, I think mostly of a presence that is constantly with us, walking alongside us. I think of the poem ‘Footprints’ in the sand and imagine us cradled in the palm of God’s hand as he carries us through the difficult moments. I think of warmth and love. Usually, my image of God leans more towards the image of God, the Father rather than Jesus or the Holy Spirit. I think of my own dad, and the loving, close relationship we had. I imagine the Father’s love to be much like that, only better.
Where do I think I’ve seen God this week?
- In the little green shoots appearing in the garden.
- In a moment of quiet at my daughter’s graveside, watching a nearby deer.
- In the words of the street preacher. I might not agree with their approach to evangelism and I suspect we will disagree on theology, but the reminder that Jesus is here for us in our brokenness was one that I did need to hear that morning.
- In the gentle reminder coming into my mind that I needed to prepare my heart too as I rushed around getting things ready for the Sunday service, shouting at my family in a very-unchristian way because I was running late and feeling very stressed. I can get so caught up and distracted in the doing at times and there are times when I need a prompt to remind me to ‘be still and know that I am God’. And apologise to my family for being such a stress-head.
- In a moment of having someone come into our time of prayer at church and confess that he had not really prayed for years, but a friend had just passed away and he felt a need to come and spend time talking to God. I hope that he felt comforted from being there.
Who am I?
As part of our preparation this week, we’ve been asked to put together an identity map of who we are, and to reflect on what role we most identify with and where we spend most of our time. For me, ‘Mummy’ is the role that I currently identify with most at present, and I spent most of my time focused on being ‘Mummy’ and ‘Church elder’.
A Kintsugi Faith 