The Walk of the Wounded

             How to people come to know God?  It is different for everybody to some extent, but there are commonalities to most Christians' walk.  Usually, people in the United States were introduced to some sort of contact with a religious institution when they were children.  It may have been through and Aunt or Uncle, maybe a grandparent, or their parents may have taken them to church on Christmas and Easter.  Many had parents that attended church regularly and they grew up among their peers in Sunday School.  I think the majority of kids then fall away from these fledgling beliefs in their teenage years.  This is very common and it is often an outgrowth of establishing their independence from their parents and family.  But then something happens.  God begins to woo them back. Through senses, interactions with others, a spiritual book, perhaps even some tentative reading of scripture, God makes them aware of himself.  And then they inevitably go through some trial.  Trials like these are so much a part of the human condition.  In this trial they cry out for that unknown God they were introduced to at a young age.  And God answers.

          Exactly how he answers is different for everyone.  For me, my trial was a deep clinical depression I went through in my first semester of college.  In the hospital (I was in for almost 3 months), I found a book, “A Pilgrim’s Path.”  I was interested enough to read a few chapters.  Later that year I was diagnosed with Bipolar depression.  I had experiences during the high that had God’s fingerprints all over them.  I was protected at every turn from real damage I could have caused in my life.  I can see this protection in retrospect and I am so thankful for it. While getting treatment, I accepted the invitation of my mom and sister to attend their church.  Here, I met God through the weekly teachings of the pastor.  I finally cracked the bible and began to read scripture.  And, in my case, I found a deep love for the text and the people in it.  And it fostered in me a deep love for God.  As the saying goes, “there are no atheists in foxholes.” (Foxhole being a ditch dug to weather out the storm of enemy fire in war).
            Many people find God in recovery from some sort of addiction.  In the Twelve Steps, one is asked to believe in a power greater than his or her self.  This higher power becomes someone they can turn to daily, in fact, every minute of every day.  They turn to him to help them grow out of the issues that are the root of their addiction.  Later in the twelve steps, they are encouraged to cultivate this relationship with their higher power through prayer and meditation.  Step 11 is "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." Psalm 46:1-4 says "God is our protection and our strength. He always helps in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid even if the earth shakes, or the mountains fall into the sea, even if the oceans roar and foam, or the mountains shake at the raging sea. Selah. There is a river that brings joy to the city of God, the holy place where God Most High lives."  The river for me runs through everything I have been through and joins me with everyone with the same experience.  It is the river of humanity, saints and pastors and popes and the great throng of believers past and present streaming into the gates of the City of Heaven.
            God is most present in times of trial.  And his voice is audible because we are listening for something bigger than our plight, and bigger than ourselves.  And often, we are listening for something bigger than the small world we have existed in that no longer fits our experiences. Why is this?  Because a person in trouble won't deny real help.  We have our guards down.  All the issues that kept us apart from God fall away. In Matthew 11, Jesus says to the crowd, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  A yoke is the mantle that a student wears for his religious teacher.  Jesus was a mouthpiece for God. When John the Baptist (who was in prison) sends a question to Jesus, “who are you?”  Jesus sends word back. “Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me’” (Matt 11).  Jesus was as close to God as anyone can get.  He is a reflection of the love God has for his creation, and every single one of us.  God's love is conspicuous to us especially in times of trial.

            When times are really hard, we look for existential answers to the deep questions uncovered by our trials.  These are the types of questions we all ask from time to time.  And when we ask them, we may hear the voice of God coming back with answers.  Usually that voice says we are asking the wrong questions.  This is reflective of the personality of God that can be seen in his interactions with common men and woman in scripture. I love the absurdly ironic sense of humor God has. The voice of God could be a voice in our head and a line of reasoning that did not seem to come from ourselves.  Or it may come through the honest and open reading of scripture where we withhold judgement and begin to hear the voice of love coming through. Or it may be in our interactions with others. Many people seeking answers to deep questions find their way into a church.  And at a good and healthy church, acceptance is immediate and tangible.  I had such an accepting, warm and loving welcome to our little church in South Lyon.  And this becomes the church for you.  It is no longer the great monolithic perpetrator of injustice throughout the ages.  It is a group of people reaching out in love to people in a world so desperately in need of love and acceptance.  It is people putting their efforts into making the world a better place for the people with whom they come in contact. That is the church Jesus founded.  And this is the church for me.  I hope that one day, that becomes the church for everyone.  And then we will be living, scars and all, bathed in love in Heaven on Earth.