Reading God in our lives.
This week is National Book Week, a time when we encourage our children to read. I would like to offer a different kind of reading this week. Christians are known as people of ‘The Book’, that is the Bible, which is really a collection of a number of different books that show how God worked in human lives. We are also known as people of ‘The Word’, that is Jesus Christ. St Augustine, one of the greatest writers in the Church, loved playing with words and ideas. One of his best was to say that when God expressed his love, spoke his Word, Jesus, he was thinking of each one of us as a syllable in that Word. Amazing! This means that each of us has something special and unique to reveal about the love of God and about the person of Jesus. This specialness is integral to how we are made, who we are. We are not used to reading ourselves and need to work at this. One way is to think of five words that you think describe who you are. (If you think of negative characteristics, name the positive side of it as well.) I sometimes even make up syllables that sound like me. Then try and think of five words that describe your family or loved ones. Make this the basis of a great family or group sharing. This is owning of our best selves and how God’s presence is revealed in our lives.
This week is also Seniors Week and offers us a great opportunity to ask our grandparents how God has written in their ‘Book of Life’. There is so much wisdom to be read there!