Scripture and the Events of My Life

One of the reasons a few of us worked to establish this blog site was so that we could continue to share in each other's reflections on scripture.

Again, we want to encourage all readers of our Journey to Wisdom site to share your stories—how your holy reading and study of scripture helps you connect God's word to your everyday life experience. 

 “We too must be capable of bringing before God our struggles, the suffering of certain situations, of certain days, the daily undertaking of following him, of being Christians, and also the weight of evil that we see without ourselves and around us, so that he may give us hope, that he may make us feel his closeness and give us a light on the path of life.” (Pope Benedict XI, general audience address, February 1, 2012).

I know of no more effective way of bringing my struggles before God than in prayerful reading of scripture passages. The combination of Lectio Divina, which embeds the word in my heart, with Ignatian prayer of the imagination which imprints the scene in my psyche, has led to hope, helped me feel the closeness of Jesus, and revealed more clearly the path God is showing me in each particular instance.  In short, I become more aware of God's will for me, and, I am more inspired, more motivated, more inclined to follow it.

Recently, on this blog site, I shared my reflection, “On Making Mistakes.”   Since then, several more errors I have made in judgment have surfaced.  Because I had reflected on this topic, invited Jesus into the wounded areas within myself, and experienced a “shift” within, I notice that I have a different response to these “new mistakes”:  All of my energy is devoted to remedying and to seeing where this too, can work to the good.  Before I consciously took my mistake-making to Jesus, I would have spent a goodly amount of time scolding myself and focusing on my short-sightedness and blundering.

 Our question,  “What difference does Jesus make in this particular event in my life?” brings light to  the Christological question, “Who is Jesus?”

Pray, reflect, discover and share your experience as did the writer of Hebrews:  “Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” (Heb. 2.18)  As you are built up, build up the Body of Christ!  None of us knows where that mustard seed will take root; we do not know how the tiny yeast particle of personal experience may join with others and leaven a whole loaf; we do not know what treasure we will find in the field of our life events, but we do know, in faith, that Jesus came so that we may be set free==which sometimes means being set free from our own wounded perspective of ordinary happenings.  

Sharon Nelsen,

February 2, 2012