There is a great difference between doing and being. It has been said that the greatness of the American economy lies in the cultural attribute that we are practical problem solvers. It is rarely controversial, even in an age in which almost everything is controversial, to analyze situations in a new way and discover new solutions. I remember struggling to make a Louisiana church’s first computer actually do something. I remarked in frustration, “The person who gets computers to speak English will make a fortune!” Welcome Bill Gates.

We are less skilled at being . . . we use pejorative terms for it, like contemplating our navels, etc. Even in prayer (assuming we give ourselves permission to take the time for such a non-tangible, unproductive activity) we do all the talking! You would think, even in a very old fashioned view of prayer, that we would figure in the divine/human relationship, that the divine person would be the one with the insights worth listening to.

While Christian Spirituality is firmly based on historical incidences in the life of Jesus, it is no less grounded on the proposition that God is still speaking, as the good people of the United Church of Christ remind us in their tagline (I wish I had wrote it). Letting God overshadow us with love is no less important than anything we have to say to our Creator, who knows our necessities before we ask as the Book of Common Prayer reminds us.

There are two parts to any conversation. With God: put on some music, pour a glass of wine, close your eyes and listen too. You’ll think about this and that, but in those 15-30 minutes you’ll also hear the voice of God and that voice is hope and peace and the conveyor of life.

See you in awhile. Stay well. God’s peace.