Friday, July 7, 2023  

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Today’s Scripture Reading 
Acts 9:1–9

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (NRSV)

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Reflection
What does it take for God to get your attention? I like to say that God gets my attention by trolling me.

Once when I was walking to church, I was startled as I was almost hit by a large car rounding a corner, despite my having a walking signal. As some of us might do, I gave a colorful hand gesture to signal my displeasure, and then I immediately remembered where I was walking to.

Another time I was attending an evangelical-style church. This is not something I generally enjoy, as it often brings up a lot of baggage from growing up. So I prayed that God would give me patience during the service. So what happened? Well, the sermon was basically a checklist of everything that bothers me theologically about evangelical churches.

These and other similar moments have stuck with me for a long time. I feel that in these two cases, God was telling me specific things. In the first, maybe it was “try not to be so angry and react with more grace to those around you.” In the second: perhaps “not every message is for you; stop being so judgmental.”

God spoke to Saul directly and literally. He seems like the kind of guy who probably needed it. And while God may not need to get many people’s attention in this manner, I believe the Holy Spirit is always nudging us.

As we go through life, we feel that nudge every time we interact with others. Sometimes the messages are loud and clear to us in the ways that God knows reach us, but often they aren’t. But that’s OK, because the constant message is that we are all beloved children of God.

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Prayer
Lord, open my heart to your nudging. Allow me to be ready for your voice in my life so that I may treat everyone around me with your grace.

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Written by Jared Light, Co-Clerk of Session

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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