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| Missouri Botanical Garden |
It was a steamy Sunday morning late in August, the kind of summer day we all dread, with high humidity and high temperature. It was the type of day when even church going is perfunctory, but those not on vacation or occupied with late summer activities had gathered for worship. Little did I suspect that my entire perspective of my relationship with God would be changed that morning. Now, I am not sure what the title of the sermon was that morning, nor if I got the intended message. But what I did get was an inspiration to reevaluate my faith and my commitment to that faith that would keep me thinking for many days ahead.
As the sermon began, the preacher asked us to think of the three most important things in our lives and then "mentally" write each on index cards we would hold in our hands. This wasn't too difficult---after all, I was in church---and the obvious answers were my family, job and religion. Early on, we were told to toss one of those away, leaving only the two most important. Again, this wasn't too hard and I found myself "holding" the cards for family and religion. The sermon continued, and as we came to the end, we were told that now would come the hard part---we must make a decision between the two remaining cards, and only keep one. Which one would it be?
At other times, many of us have been heard to state that nothing is more important to us than our family, and I have been no different in that regard. However, on that lazy summer morning, as I was presented with the hypothetical need to prioritize and choose between the two, I came to the realization that when I had mentally written "religion" on my card, I should have written "faith" instead, for it was not the trappings of religion, nor the specifics of one religious practice or another that is important to me, but my faith in God. And in that moment, I knew that the stark reality was that my faith would be the card I would hold onto and that I would actually cast away the card that read "family".
I understood that without my faith in God I would have nothing and would be nothin. If God in His infinite wisdom decided to take my family away from me, faith would be the only thing that could sustain me through such a terrible crisis. However, on the flip side, if my faith was taken from me, I could never be the mother or wife I aspired to be. How could I raise my child in this time of social and moral conflict without my faith? If this realization has changed my relationship with my family, it is only for the better as I am relying more on my relationship with God to guide me in my day-to-day activities and interpersonal relationships.
Dear Lord, be my constant companion and collaborator. Help me acknowledge Your importance in my life with the recognition that without You, our physical accomplishments are nothing. Guide my steps so that my house will be Yours, and we shall not labor in vain. Amen
Re-printed with permission of Mary Lewis from St. Mark Presbyterian's 1999 Lenten Devotions.
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