Moments with God

Missing God
By J. Bradley Wigger
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
 

Our son, David, 3 years old at the time, was praying at bedtime. He asked God to bless his friends, then his family, his pets, and stuffed animals. Finally, he ended the prayer, saying, 'And God, I miss you.'

Huh? I did a mental double take. What was that about? What should I do? Part of me wanted to offer him a comforting story or clever advice that would assure him of God's presence, but another part of me was paralyzed by these stark words, 'God, I miss you.' So instead of saying anything, I kissed him goodnight and went to tell Jane so she could worry, too. Jane was equally puzzled and concerned. The truth is, a parent cannot simply make a 3-year old, or anyone else, feel something they do not, certainly not the presence of God. Whatever we could say or do would fall short of the depth that was generating David's prayer. This was from the heart.

The next morning over our peanut butter and toast, with a touch of fear and trembling, I did bring the matter up with our son, 'David, last night when you were praying, you said you missed God.'

'Oh, yeah,' he answered, 'but that's ok now.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well,' he said, 'God came to me last night...'

I interrupted, 'David, you mean like in a dream?' (My modern brain had to find some way to explain this.)

'I dunno, I guess. Anyway, I was playin' in the sandbox behind our old house (we had recently moved across town into an apartment), and God came
and said, 'Come, David,' so I followed, and we came here, and now God is here with us in our new home!', he smiled.


►J. Bradley Wigger is Second Presbyterian Church Professor of Christian Education and Director of the Center for Congregations and Family Ministries at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He is the author of Together We Pray: A Prayer Book for Families (Chalice Press, June 2005).

This story first appeared in an article titled "Looking Back: Home" in the journal, Family Ministry (Vol. 16:1, Spring 2002). This excerpt can also be found in J. Bradley Wigger's book, The Power of God at Home (Jossey-Bass 2003). It has been posted with permission from Family Ministry: Empowering Through Faith, a publication of Louisville Seminary.
 

A Taize Service
by The Rev. Fran Moran
Montlieu-Welch United Methodist Church
High Point, NC 

At our first ever Taize service at my church on Thursdays, during the season of Lent, the faithful people came, more than I thought would. It felt so good - I think God was there, too.   

We sang (simple & profound melodies)... Some read scriptures.  There was more silence than I've ever allowed happen... the prayers of intercession were "kerplunked" and that was like a resonating chorus.  There were even some children there -they “kerplunked” too. 

The altar had a beautiful purple cloth twisted like a rope across the base of the cross.  My gorgeous blooming African violet stood at the center below the cross, and seven votives on simple glass plates, each one a different color surrounded the plant. The lighting was dim, but not too dim.  The altar had a light shining down on it. 

The prayers were rich, both the spoken and the unspoken. God's word was clear and in the silence I could hear my breathing... 

We shared the peace of Christ as our benediction. 

It was nice. 

and the dance continues…

Thoughts on Seeing a Newborn Grandson
Submitted by Jean Moyer
Church of the Brethren Educator

”We love you, baby dear.

And it is no small thing

That you, who are

So fresh from God

Love us!”

-author unknown

Two Babies in a Manger
Author unknown

Two Americans tell this story of their visit to an orphanage in Russia: 

It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, perhaps for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.
 
Throughout the story, the children and staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.
 
Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city. Following instructions, the children tore the
paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel cut from a worn-out nightgown were used for the baby's blanket.
 
A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt. The children were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6-years-old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the child why there were two babies in the manger.

Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately -- until he came to the part where Mary put the baby
Jesus in the manger.
 
Then Misha started to ad-lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, "And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay.  I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with Him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn't have a gift to give Him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept Him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, 'If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?' And Jesus told me, 'If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.'
 
 So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and He told me I could stay with Him -- for always." As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks.  Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him -- always!