Formed by what we Form

 

Therefore, since we are justified/healed/made whole by faith, we have peace/shalom with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.  Romans 5

 

Paul, the writer of the letter to the Romans, never met a run on sentence he couldn’t improve with just a few more words!  I invite you to go back and re-read the two sentences above letting the syllables sing and sink into your soul.  Where do you need healing right now?  Could be physically, emotionally, relationally, spiritually, communally, or all the above.  How does your faith help in the process and is there any practices or rituals that are “supposed” to help because the church said so…but don’t seem to be?  What does the shalom/wholeness/peace of God feel like/sound like/taste like?  Maybe what filled you with shalom/wholeness/peace is the past doesn’t seem to be helping right now…then what!?!

 

The truth is we form the image of God in our mind and then are formed by that which we created.  The image of God in your heart is a collage of hymns, snippets of sermons, random quotes, and words your grandmother told you.  Pause, what is part of the collage of God in your imagination?  Truth is, if that portrait is made up of images of anger and fear and a smiting God…that is going to form us.  If the portrait is one of the Prodigal God who races out to greet both sons as beloved…that is going to form us.  If the portrait is one of God who is distant or disconnected or demanding…that image of the holy will form us too.  We form an image of God from the remnants and random pieces of faith we are handed by others.  When do we step back and prayerfully examine the painting of God in our mind?

 

Jesus said, you cannot put new wine in old wineskins.  Is there an image of God, you might need to let go to make space for the peace/shalom/love of God that makes us whole?  I encourage you to consider where and when and who is shaping your understanding of the sacred and prayerfully ask if that is how you encounter and experience God still today?  May this invitation awaken you to the Holy hovering in your life this day.  Amen.