Pentecost Blessings

I often turn to my computer for my daily devotion. Although a good chunk of quiet time, just me and my bible each morning would be ideal, I don’t always feel like I have that luxury. Instead, I spend a few minutes with a website called Sacred Space which guides me through a morning prayer.

A friend recently reminded me that for people of faith, quiet devotion time, whether it’s as short as ten minutes or as long as an hour, is not a luxury. It’s a necessity if we want to nurture our relationship with God. It’s not always easy. She described it as a discipline and compared it to exercise. At first, we might not want to do it. We might feel like we don’t have the time. But once we get into a routine, not only do we feel better, we may find that everything is better – God’s presence is more apparent, and God’s guiding hand can be more easily felt as we struggle with our daily tasks and decisions.

Each week, Sacred Space gives me something to think and pray about for the week. Take a moment after you read the following paragraph to think about how God is speaking to you today.

“This week leads to Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit. We speak of the Spirit guiding us. Quakers wait in silence for the Spirit to move them to speak. How does this work? The Holy Spirit does not normally work by telling us things we do not know, or by extraordinary revelations. The Holy Spirit introduces no new ideas, but improves and deepens my knowledge of what I already know. Jesus said, “The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.” (John 14:26) We shall sometimes, but not always, be conscious of a special divine influence, and we may feel sure that the action we have received is from God. But God’s action, though strong, is often quite imperceptible, for instance as the grace of fidelity in a time of great aridity.” (Taken from Sacred Space for the week of May 25, 2009)

I have a plaque on my wall that daily reminds me, “Bidden or not bidden God is present.”

Pentecost blessings, Pastor Carrie Scheller