Abraham and Sarah are some of my favorite people of the Bible.  I long wanted to be like them, for they often talked with God.  And yet when you actually look at their whole story – they go for years and years, miles and miles without hearing anything, or knowing anything more specific.  What seemed so special and extraordinary is much more like life – that we experience God’s presence (at least in my story) in bits, moments, flashes and glimpses that don’t occur all the time or even on a regular basis.   They’re not the things that we live for, but rather the moments that help us reflect, remember and reframe – that we might live the life we are called to.

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The two big encounters they have with God that strike me are from Genesis 12:1-9 and Genesis 18:1-15.  The first tells of their call to leave their homeland, people, and established way of life to discover a new life – to become a blessing for all peoples.  The second story is that of the announcement that they – in their whippersnapper old age – will have a child.  The first is characterized by this radical belief, this ability to step up and out – to leave everything behind, in the hope, confidence and trust, that true life lays ahead, across the desert in a promised new land.  The second story points to disbelief, a lack of confidence and mistrust.  How can they have a baby?  And yet in that confusion they remain hospitable, open, kind, generous.

 

In this day of wonder in the experience and encounter of God’s presence how do you need to to reflect, remember, or reframe?

 

A prayer for the day:

 

Heavenly Father,

We praise you for the wonder of your eternal being:

from you originates this vast creation, to run its course, and pass away.

 

We praise you for the wonder of our birth – 

in your mind were we lovingly conceived for a reason precious to yourself,

and consecrated to your purpose in Christ.

 

We praise you for the wonder of our life – 

through your patience we are given the means of salvation to work out with joy.

 

We praise you for the wonder of our dying – 

that in this final way we are able to give you back the charge of our life, which only you can complete.

 

And yet we confess that we are so prosaic – 

accepting life casually and drifting from one circumstance to another simply to fade out when our times comes.

Please gives us a sense of wonder and bring us to the experience of awe which the early Christians had.