God's word comes near in TRUSTING

This year our summer camp theme verse is :

“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.” —Romans 10:8

For our first day of the week during camp, we will see how God comes near when we trust God. Our Biblical story is from Genesis 18 when Abraham and Sarah are visited by three strangers (angels of the Lord) who tell them they are going to have a son in their old age. Sarah laughs for she does not see how this is possible due to her advanced age. We can identify perhaps with her laughter. Trusting God is not always easy. We can come to trust and know God through conversation with others, as Abraham and Sarah did through the three strangers who came to visit. Abraham and Sarah also come to trust God when God keeps God's promise and indeed gives them a son in their old age. Then, they have personal and profound experience of God's trustworthiness. We can also come to trust God as we get to know God better. One way to do this is through a structured time of silent prayer with God each day. Centering prayer is when you sit quietly and simply try to become more aware of God's presence within by letting all the thoughts in your head go and focusing on what underlies everything - God's indwelling presence. It is not easy to do, but it does help increase our ability to trust God as we become more aware of God's presence and love for us.

Thomas Keating, one of the founder's of the modern day Centering Prayer movement says it this way in his book, Open Mind, Open Heart:

"The chief thing that separates us from God is the thought that we are separated from Him. If we get rid of that thought, our troubles will be greatly reduced. We fail to believe that we are always with God and that He is part of every reality. The present moment, every object we see, our inmost nature are all rooted in Him. But we hesitate to believe this until personal experience gives us the confidence to believe in it. This involves the gradual development of intimacy with God. God constantly speaks to us through each other as well as from within. The interior experience of Gods' presence activates our capacity to perceive Him in everything else - in people, in events, in nature. We may enjoy union with God in any experience of the external senses as well as in prayer."

If you are interested in practicing Centering Prayer, here is a link to a brief step by step outline for the prayer:https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/centering-prayer-method/

Prayer: Let my heart and mind be opened to God's deep love.

Amen