Our story is about a woman who we will call Clair. Throughout her life, Clair worked in many secular fields and was happy. With a keen intellect and a suspicious heart, Clair and her husband made a great life for themselves in the world. Eventually they had children, and as is often the case, those children were the reason the family returned to church.
But for Clair there was a problem. . .
Even though worship space was beautiful, and the preaching engaged the mind, and the music and singing were well-planned and supported the service well, and even if the church had ample programming for this young family, Clair could not get past her problem. So she scheduled some time with the pastor.
Sitting down in the pastor's office the two exchanged pleasantries and small talk before Clair dropped her bombshell on the pastor. She confessed that while she enjoyed the service, and liked the preaching, and said that her children loved the programs at the church, she wasn't sure that God existed. Obviously this created a great conflict in Clair.
She could see that her family was blessed tremendously by everything that this church offered, and was happy to bring them to church, she just did not know if God existed. So she sought the pastor for help.
Rather than trying to fix her problem, or prove God's existence to Clair, the pastor smiled and asked if she would be willing to do an experiment for 30 days. Shrugging Clair agreed--what did she have to lose?
The pastor gave her this assignment:
For 30 days spend time talking to God in the morning. Don't worry about whether God exists or not, she was told, just talk to God for 30 days.
30 days later, Clair scheduled time with the pastor to share her experience. She said that for the first week it felt like she was talking to her imaginary friend--someone wasn't there truly. But she kept at it. Kept talking to God each day, and then something happened. . . but not what you might expect.
She said that she loved to garden and that was the place where she had those talks with God each morning. After a week or so, Clair noticed that the color of the flowers that she cared for was brighter and more vibrant. The song of nature was richer. All around her, the world seemed to open up in new ways as she talked with this God who didn't exist.
It was a simple practice--one not based on anything more just showing up and being with God. We are so busy in our days, I wonder what might happen for you, if you took some time today just to have a talk with God? Walk with God? Perhaps God will transform you as well?
Blessings,
Rev. Derek
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