When The Spirit Moves Me, Do I?

The priest in his short sermon this morning said: When the Holy Spirit moves within us, God asks us to act “promptly”.  That word caught my attention.

I reflected back on my response to promptings in recent days --- all sorts of promptings.  There were requests for prayers; did I promptly pray?  Nooooo.  There were calls in need; did I quickly answer the call?  Well, here at least I can say:  sometimes.  When the response asked of me was small, I responded promptly, but when it was large I paused, to pray on the matter.  “Lord, is this what You want?”  Not a bad thing to do, I guess.

But back to the sermon’s call to act “promptly:”  How can I act promptly to God’s call, the opportunities He gives me to love my neighbor, and avoid (largely through procrastination) not acting at all?  It’s a matter, I think, that I’ve been considering for weeks now, as I daily write in my journal.

Each day I look back on the “God Opportunities” I perceived were opened to me, and I write how well I responded to His promptings.  One thing I don’t consider is how quickly I respond to Him; perhaps I should.  We respond promptly to a situation when it is natural for us to respond, a habit.  That is the real question here:  How can it become a habit for me to respond to God’s call?  

Well, like all habits, it starts with practice.

I’m doing the journeling each day.  I’m meditating on Scripture each day (okay, I do that largely because it’s a class assignment --- but, still …), and tonight I join a Bible Study group (we’ll be doing Exodus).  All these things are forced habits, forced time taken to look for God, to hear His call for me, so that --- perhaps --- I’ll hear His call even when I’m not focused on listening, and it will become a habit to answer, “promptly”.

Lest we forget, the key word in “promptly” is “prompt”.  God prompts us, often, throughout our day.  Sometimes it’s in the quiet of a church.  Sometimes it’s in the cry of our baby, or in the pain we see on our spouse’s face.  Sometimes it’s in the beggar on the corner, or in the anger we feel when the boss speaks to us.  These are promptings for us to love our neighbor, to do as God would have us do, to be who He created us to be. 

Oh, sometimes we know we DO promptly react to those situations:  we get angry.  But is that the prompting Jesus is giving us?   

Those old bracelets everyone once wore, WWJD, had a good message, and were a good reminder.  What are Jesus’ promptings in our life?  How would He ask us to respond?  What would He do?

We learn to “promptly” find the answers to those questions by practicing, practicing by taking the time to read His Word, or to sit in silence listening for His voice.   

Practice makes perfect; practice makes prompt.

As I knelt after receiving Holy Communion this morning, I spoke to Jesus, but my thoughts were interrupted by the words being sung in the church: 

Shine forth through us, Oh Radiant Son.

And a chill went up my spine.    

A Hole In My Pants

I decided to take a shower yesterday afternoon, and in undressing discovered that I had a hole in the back of my pants.  I stopped and thought about my day:  the walk around the neighborhood, the stores I visited, the people who spoke to me --- were they smiling a bit, knowing something I didn’t?  But then I smiled to myself:  what did it matter?  After all, like mom always reminded me:  “make sure you have on clean underwear.”  And I knew did.

Although I quickly forgot about any possible embarrassments, that hole remained in my thoughts.  During my evening prayers I included my classroom assignment:  to pray on a particular Scripture reading, to contemplate it, and to write down my thoughts.  I’m to share them with the others at next week’s class. 

Reading and meditating on Scripture is a good thing; it’s like opening a window so that God can come in.  And as I read, contemplated --- and listened --- I did perceive some good thoughts through the words of the Scripture (and inspirations of the Spirit?).  Then my mind flittered:  was this insight something special, something I should perhaps note here, on this blog?  And I pondered on that for some minutes, seeking some insight.

And one came, but not the one I was seeking.

It came to me that when I read Scripture looking for something there, I usually find it.  And this is a good thing, a blessing for me.  (It wasn’t always this way.)  But then I realized something more profound and worth remembering, and it is this:  When I read Scripture looking for something, I usually find it, but it is when I am NOT looking that I really see.

I’ve noted before that almost all these posts are written in the Adoration chapel of a nearby church.  What perhaps I have not written often is that these words are not sought.  I have no plans to write for my blog, no topics in mind --- witness the recent scarcity of posts of late.  Tonight I asked myself, after reading and meditating on Scripture, if my thoughts were worth posting.  It was the wrong question, or better put:  it was wrong to question.  If there is something which needs to be said here, --- for you or for me --- God has shown how He helps me to perceive that, there in the chapel, in His presence.  It’s what friends do when they sit together.  They chat; they “shoot the breeze,” and sometimes --- only sometimes --- the topic under consideration gets serious.

Those serious discussions on serious topics, with serious insights, like the hole in my pants, aren’t usually planned, but we must do something when they occur.  Oh, and like wearing clean underwear, we need always be prepared for those serious discussions with God.  Clean souls --- from Confession --- have a property of also cleaning out our ears, so we can better hear Him when He speaks. 

Regular Scripture reading is a very good thing, focusing us on the Word.  But regular time in the chapel, just sitting in the presence of God, is a good thing also.  I’ve gradually grown in faith over the years; I’ve gradually lessened my anxieties.  But I’ve made leaps of faith and been washed in pools of love, just sitting there with Him.

Where He waits. 

To Prevent Anxiety

I’ve written here of many incidents, many thoughts, and many blessings I have received, and the focus has largely been on me --- or you, if you see yourself in these words.  I’ve written of things and events which have helped me lessen my anxiety, the worries of my life.  Most often, I think, I’ve written that my anxieties are lessened if I can accept the fact that God wishes good for me, in all things.  He loves me.

Sometimes I have written about God’s will for me --- and I’ve often found, in summary, that He wants me to love others, as He loves me, calming all our anxieties.  I think, however, that I have NOT written much about how I can bring about this awareness of my need to be loved, and to love.  I’ve not written about concrete actions I can take --- on a regular basis --- to be reminded of God’s love and my call to love.  And I need those reminders.

There are some things I can do to lessen life’s anxieties, and to stop those feelings before they happen. These proactive preventative measures are called, in a word, prayer.

My spiritual advisor classes started Tuesday night, and the initial topic was prayer.  In describing how to read Scripture, St. Ignatius suggested that meditation --- our reflective capacity to discover meaning --- and contemplation --- our imaginative capacity to put ourselves into the Bible scene --- both come into play.  Ignatius taught that we need to reflect on the truths of Scripture AND how those truths relate to US.

To illustrate the personal nature of this method of Scripture reading and prayer, the class was directed to read and pray over the words in which Jesus called Simon the fisherman, in Luke 5:1-11.  And then we were asked to speak aloud our silent thoughts, what caught our attention.  It was surprising the number of different foci from that one passage.  One person was immediately struck by the fact that Jesus saw two boats on the shore and then chose to get into one.  “Why that one,” he wondered, and considered how God used small choices in his life to effect great changes.  (This is along the lines of most Scriptural miracles, wherein Jesus requires some participation of His followers in bringing His miracles about.) 

I noticed Simon’s verbal reaction to the great miracle of the full nets: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  Simon followed the Lord’s commands, and then was humbled at the great blessing of God.  Putting myself in that scene (and considering the many great blessings in my life), I considered that my reaction may likely have been one of pride at the great catch that “I” had made, and perhaps even considering it a just reward for all my labors.  Simon reacted in humility; how often, I realized, I reacted in pride.

Reading a Scripture passage I have heard so many times, yet I still have so much to learn.

The point of the exercise was to illustrate the importance of prayer and of regular Bible reading.  We all have anxieties in our lives, and always will.  But a big part of Jesus’ message was “Be not afraid,” and “Do not be anxious.”  As demonstrated by our exercise, there is much we can gain by meditating on Scripture, to figure out the truth Jesus was saying, and why.  But there is also much to be given uniquely to each of us by contemplating Scripture in prayer, by putting ourselves in the Scriptural scene and letting the Holy Spirit expand the message into our lives, so we can hear His message for us:  “Even in these troubling times in your life, I tell you, Do Not Be Anxious.”