This is from Margaret Silf’s Compass Points. It’s a great way to bookend our blogalogue with her.
The Samaritan woman at the well would never have met Jesus if she’d had a water supply at home.
It’s in what we lack that we are most open to all we can become.
Why do we bombard God with our prayers for what we lack to be provided? Perhaps we should be asking God not to supply our wants, but to dwell within them.
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Wow…
Claire,
Exactly.
Paul
Brilliant the first time I read it, brilliant still. Thank you!
Fran,
Oh to be brilliant…
Paul
What Claire said.
Have a great weekend everyone…
Tim,
What I said to Claire!
Paul
Yup, a good one! As in, “…give us this day our daily bread”
Have a wonderful weekend.
Bob,
In truth, I’m dreading this weekend. I have to move house while our community undergoes renovation. The thought of having to schlepp all sorts of stuff out of my room. Ugh!
Paul
Paul,
Didn’t see your note until now. Hope the move goes well, and that it’s air-conditioned wherever you’re moving from/to.
Bob
So much to think about. Thank you Margaret and Paul.
Lynda,
Margaret deserves all the credit.
Paul
You need holes in something to see through, and this has given me a tiny one.
Thanks to both Margaret and Paul for stimulating such a wonderfully rich conversation…and for this wisdom, something to think about on the drive, as I’m off this afternoon to have a conversation of my own with one of Ignatius’ finest.
Michelle,
Please give my respectful regards to “one of Ignatius’ finest”!
Paul
Quite profound, but could you share sime light on it. Thanksd to Margaret and Paul.
Jo,
As I said above, Margaret deserves all the praise.
Paul
As we woke to another car repair to be done this morning. ( I won’t bore you with the details) My husband and I had a conversation about feeling like we can never quite get ahead of the bills etc. I just read him this as he was heading downstairs for a tool and commented that it was appropriate to our earlier conversation his reaction was.”God does have a way of speaking even if we don’t want to hear what he is saying ” Perhaps for us this morning it is to be thankful. since if we hadn’t just been moving the car a few feet to make way for the kids to play basketball when we discovered the problem my husband could have blown an engine on his way to work. So thank you God but please give John patienceand wisdom as he is under the hood in the rain trying to deal with this.
Maura,
In some sense or other, we are all “under the hood in the rain trying to deal with this.” And John is, of course, right when he observes that “God does have a way of speaking even if we don’t want to hear what he is saying.”
Paul
Take small comfort that you are not alone Maura. I hope it all gets taken care of easily.
Wow!!!
I think I will have to read this a few times to let it sink in.
Ohmygoodness, I didn’t get here yesterday….and I now know why. I was just having this conversation with God, this makes me want to weep. Thanks to all who have the courage to lack and let God work through them.
@carol – I read it a few times as well, and each time I found myself in this story:
A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:
“Is anyone up there?”
“I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?”
“Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can’t hang on much longer.”
“That’s all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch.”
A moment of pause, then: “Is anyone else up there?”
Well, yes, that is absolutely true but sooooooo hard to do. That requires a degree of enlightenment that I am a tad far from as yet. I am afraid I am still akin to the man hanging on to the branch!
I’ve been on vacation, and I’m just catching up, so this comment comes a little late.
I was in Michigan when the entire Northeast had that big blackout back in, what was it, 2003? That night, everyone went outside. It was pleasant weather, and there wasn’t much to do indoors with no electricity. We set up our camp stove to heat up dinner, and our downstairs neighbors brought out some beers, and we sat out and talked. People we never met before or since came by and introduced themselves. The sidewalks were crawling with people at a time when you’d normally see hardly a soul. Of course, we were all speculating about whether this was what life was always like before electricity, and people were telling each other stories about the neighborhood social scene on hot nights back in those times, when there was no way to sleep in the still air of a house or apartment.
There sure is a lot about modern conveniences that keeps us from meeting God.
On the other hand, I just saw a newspaper story about how more people are being injured due to distracted walking (walking while texting, talking on phones, listening to iPods, etc.). So there’s a lot about modern conveniences that leads us to meet God sooner than we’d like.
I guess you “dwell within your wants” the same way you “live with questions” . Great insight again from Margaret