Next week, the Tuesday Morning Devotional Classics group will begin a study of Adam McHugh’s book, The Listening Life. As I prepared for this study, I was reminded that there is not a shortage of words in our culture. There is plenty more “out there” than I can (or should) take in. For the disciple, the challenge is choosing which words should get my attention.
Like many of you, I have a set of spiritual practices that have informed and shaped my faith over the years. Central to those practices is reading (and, hopefully, listening to) scripture. Most every day, my practice includes the reading of a psalm. Once I complete all 150 psalms, I simply begin again. After all these years, one would think there would be no surprises. But God sometimes speaks through that which we have read many times. As I began preparing for The Listening Life, I came across a single verse in Psalm 85 that jumped off the page.
“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.”
The good news for me was not only that God speaks, but that God speaks peace. That scripture verse now comes to mind MANY times in a single day. Anyone else need that word in our unsettled, chaotic culture? For those who have ears to hear, let us listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Peace and all things good,
Pastor David
