faith-flowing

by Kari Henkelmann Keyl

One of the beauties of by the way is our ability to be flexible, to go with the flow of the Spirit in the moment. And flow we did last night at our bread for your journey gathering.

As you may know if you read the last post, Dustin was the designated leader for the evening. He chose some great readings to lead us into thought and prayer, and planned out the shape of our worship time. But when the time came, those gathered went in a different direction.

While waiting for more people to show, we jumped into deep discussion on Christianity’s relations to other religions, tugging on Dustin’s broad background in the faith expressions of the world. And that’s where we stayed, until we brought it all together with prayer. It was fascinating to explore what are the points of connection with my own faith, what are the disconnects, and what difference it could make if we’d all learn to truly understand one another rather than rely on the old prejudices we carry around. Having just returned from a trip where I was interacting daily with those of other faiths, in a land so deeply affected by pre-judgments and conflict, this was especially poignant for me.

At the end of the hour, we decided together to let the readings and reflections Dustin had chosen lead us into discussion and prayer next Thursday. I’m looking forward to it. And I hope you’ll be there to add to the richness.

Until then, I’d like to offer these words to guide you into prayer. I gleaned them from the comments to Crystal’s blog from last week. Thanks to go to William who posted these words of prayer:

God of opportunity and change, as our horizons extend, keep us loyal to our past. As our dangers increase, help us to prepare for the future. Almighty God, keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities. Giver of the present, hope for the future: grant us the joy of your saving help again, and sustain us with your bountiful Spirit. Amen.