Holy Lightning - July 2
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 140, 142; PM Psalm 141, 143:1-11(12); 1 Samuel 13:19-14:15; Acts 9:1-9; Luke 23:26-31
Today’s Reflection
The story of Saul’s conversion is so dramatic that now, when people have a similarly life-altering, perspective-changing experience we might say they had a “road to Damascus” experience. A total 180-degree change in purpose and life direction. Paul had been a zealous persecutor of “any who belonged to the Way,” which is how Luke refers to the earliest Christians. He had just asked for a letter allowing him to go bring any Christ followers in Damascus, bound, to Jerusalem to answer for their faith.
Saul was on his way to go persecute more Christians when God decided it was time for Saul to hear from him directly and thereby have his whole life’s purpose changed. The way God went about this was not just spiritual but also physical, making it impossible for Saul and his companions to ignore: “a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice.” God used something that could be seen and felt and heard, things Saul and his companions could physically sense, to make sure they listened to the message he had for them: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” When Saul asked who was speaking, the reply he received was this: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up, enter the city and you will be told what you are to do.”
Not only was the way of getting Saul’s attention dramatic—something akin to being struck by holy lightning—but the message was dramatic as well. It’s not just that Saul was persecuting followers of the Way of Jesus, but in so doing Saul was persecuting Jesus himself. If the church is the body of Christ, then it makes sense if you persecute the church then you are by extension persecuting Jesus himself. This sounds reminiscent of Jesus’s earlier admonition, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.”
These days, it can be hard to imagine God speaking to us in as dramatic of ways as Jesus spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus that day. But I believe that God is always speaking to us, always wanting to us to be aware of his daily presence in our lives and wanting to us to really listen to how God is moving in us and in the people and world around us. Maybe we will not literally hear the sound of Jesus’ voice in as plain of a way as Saul did, but if we orient our lives toward God through prayer, scripture, worship, time with other Christ followers, and time in God’s creation, we will find that God still speaks to us as we make these spaces for holy listening and holy conversation a central part of our lives.
Speaking for myself, some of the most life-altering, perspective-changing experiences I have had tend to come through turning points in my health or relationships or professional life. Seven years ago, I began to have some significant health problems that came on rather suddenly. I wasn’t struck down by heavenly light, but through a noticeable change in how I felt physically and not being able to do as much physically as I was used to being able to do, the experience has had a long-lasting impact on my relationships with God and others. These physical changes in me made me less able to do everything for myself—and thereby made it necessary for me to physically stop and ask for help from God and others. My sense of what was possible, what was necessary, and what was important was changed through this time of physical illness, and the ongoing implications for my health. This time of being ‘struck down’ physically seven years ago also coincided with a shift in me spiritually, which ultimately led me on a path on which God changed the course of my whole life and vocation through calling me to serve God and his people as a priest.
I wonder how God has been and is continuing to work in us, individually and collectively, through this worldwide time of pandemic. We have been stopped in our tracks and forced to see ourselves, our health, and one another in sometimes radically different ways. Living together through this time of intensity and fear, with so many lives lost, has reminded us in dramatic ways how our lives are inextricably interconnected to one another’s, both with people in our community and church, and with people throughout the world.
As we emerge from this dramatic “road to Damascus” moment that is the COVID-19 pandemic, I wonder how we will find ourselves changed. How will we get up and move forward even when at first, like Saul, we still cannot see the path forward for ourselves? Saul needed his friends to help him get up and lead him toward sustenance in that moment. Let’s remember we all need to stand ready to offer one another a hand and help each other up as we move forward from this life-altering, road-to-Damascus experience of living through a global pandemic. We need each other to discern our next steps and make sure we make it safely together to the next place down the road.
—Becky+
Questions for Self-Reflection
Through the past 16 months, how have you noticed your perspective on life changed by living through this time of global pandemic? Has your sense of how your life is interconnected with others changed—if so, how? Has your perspective on yourself and your role in the lives of others changed—if so, how?
Daily Challenge
In your prayer time today, set aside some time to reflect on how you have seen and felt God working in your life this past year. Thank God for specific people who have taken the time to reach out to you and your family. Ask God to place someone on your heart who you should reach out to today, someone who needs an extra word of reassurance or maybe even a helping hand.