Faith in a Time of Pandemic: Comfort and Guidance

LV
COMFORT AND GUIDANCE
(5/10)
Your rod and your staff they comfort me…(Psalm 23:4)

We have experienced a lot of affliction lately. Our lives are smaller and we are concerned about the wellbeing of ourselves and our loved ones. We are concerned about the economic wellbeing of our nation, most especially hourly workers and people who have to go to work regardless of the conditions.

While God doesn’t want us to be sheep, following any authority figure without question. We need certain structures to stay on the right path. In the Psalmist’s time, a rod and staff were used to guide sheep, to keep them on the right path. The Psalmist counseled his community to trust God’s guidance.

Think of raising children: they grow more confident and secure through an interplay of structure, guidance, and creativity. In a healthy environment, children feel secure enough to venture forth, confident that there are adults who ensure their safety. And so today, we thanks those who have been mothers to us, providing loving, wisdom, structure, acceptance, and protection. Who have mothered us into life and who still shape our lives.

As we venture toward the new reality of living with pandemic and the, hopefully, post-pandemic world, we need to know that we have the wisdom, guidance, and creativity to respond in ways that are helpful to us and others. We receive this guidance when we listen for God’s guidance.
God’s guidance comes in many ways: a still small voice, an insight, a hunch, an encounter, the right book at the right time. We open to God’s guidance through times of quiet prayer and by simply asking for it. Regularly, I ask God questions like: : “show me the way,” “guide me in this situation,” “should I undertake this project,” “how shall I respond to this request.” If I prayerfully pause and notice, an answer always comes.

Recently, a publisher asked me if I would write a book on spirituality and the internet. I had other commitments – my work as pastor, grandparenting, adult education classes at church, and writing responsibilities. I was attracted to the idea, but I wondered if I could pull it off. And, so I prayed as I walked along Craigville and Covell’s beaches, and then I listened. A gentle voice said, “Go ahead.” And by the time I returned to my car, I had an outline in my head, and was able to make a proposal when I got home. The writing came easily, because I wrote prayerful, and the book was released in April 2020, “God Online: A Mystic’s Guide to the Internet” (Anamchara Books). While not all answers come that easily, the answers we need are usually present and available if, after praying, we pause, notice insights and inclinations, and then respond.

We need comfort and guidance and this comes from listening to the Heart of the Universe and following God’s guidance when it becomes clear to us.
+++

Shepherd of the Spirit, give me comfort and guidance. Let me know you are with me and that your love is everpresent. Let me trust the guidance I receive from you. Amen.

+++
Bruce Epperly is a Cape Cod pastor, professor, and author of over 50 books, including FAITH IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC and GOD ON LINE: A MYSTIC’S GUIDE TO THE INTERNET