Pick Up Sticks

Se*lah, September 27, 2009

 

in search of sticks. 

After Judas betrayed Jesus and suffered death, the apostles had to decide who would become one of the twelve. They didn’t know how to decide of all the many that could have been apostles, who could be an apostle. They resolved to drawing straws, or sticks. Whoever’s stick was drawn won, and it ended up being Matthais’s stick, but that wasn’t why we heard the story. By drawing the sticks, they left it to God to decide. It’s important for us to include this in our every day lives. Too much of the time, we feel the need to be in control of everything. We feel pressured to make decisions based on opinions and approval of others, when really, it’s not always wise for us to make the decisions ourselves. We need God’s help, and so tonight we realized that by drawing sticks, we’re letting God make the decision. When there’s nothing more we can do for a situation, we should let God have control. Now, that doesn’t mean taking the “easy way out”, or not deciding anything at all- if He didn’t want us to think for ourselves, he wouldn’t have given us minds. There’s a fine line between faith and common sense, and we should use our common sense to the best of our ability, because God gave us that gift. However, we realized that we can’t do this alone. We cannot live this life alone. So tonight, we’re leaving all of our lost causes in God’s hands.

firsts

Se*lah, September 13th, 2009

What a great first experience this Se*lah was for me! 

What were we seeking?  The simple answer would be, God.  But we were also searching for ourselves in relation to God.  Who are we?  Who are we in our deepest core, whom God crafted in His/Her own image?  We were seeking ourselves by seeking God earnestly.

How did we seek?  We were seeking through music, craft, prayer, silence.  We were seeking through the ways we were made to seek.  I found it a very moving experience to watch everyone seek in the way that resonated within themselves deeply.

What did we find?  We found Jacob dreaming and making an altar to the Lord.  I can’t speak for all of us, but I know that for me, I found that God is in everything, even when we least expect it. 

How then shall we live?  We shall live mindfully.  What a great way to find God in our daily lives?!  Step out of the traffic and pay attention.  Pay attention to that same path you travel everyday.  Pay deep, close attention and you will find the sacred.  We shall live mindfully.

I am thankful for this experience.

-Brett

A Much Needed Holy Pause

Se*lah, September 20th, 2009

insearchof our story.

Selah this week was needed all around. From the sound of things in my conversation group, everybody’s week was just as long and dreary as mine (of course, the rain didn’t help). On this journey, God’s way, we all get a little worn down at times and need rejuvenation. For me, that is exactly what Selah provided for me. I didn’t have to worry about what I was going to say, what I needed to do, or the massive pile of honors physics homework I had waiting for me. Selah was exactly that, a Selah, a holy pause in this hustle and bustle we call life. We found new ways to connect to God through music, drawing, painting, and simply being. We remembered that we are truly living on the edge of heaven and earth. We continued our life as gates, the gates connecting heaven and earth, through which others can come to know God as we do.

One thing struck me in particular this week; it wasn’t even something we necessarily talked about. A simple stray comment I heard got me thinking. While discussing the scripture of the night, I heard someone say, “If Jesus was back, I think we would know.” I began really thinking about this. Will we? Will we really know? I brought this up in my conversation group and I guess it inspired a lot of thinking in them too (I didn’t get any answers). But seriously, how will we know when it happens? It’s not like there’s going to be a big, flashing neon sign above his head saying “This is the Lord Jesus! He is here!” Selah was a literal godsend to me. Because of these questions he raised in me, I have been more attentive than ever. I have been finding him in everyone and everything. I saw him in the little butterfly at my house, I saw him in my friends, I saw him in the lightning, I saw him in the rain. I found him…everywhere; as if he heard my questions and in return was opening my eyes to show me that if we just look, we can’t miss him.

It is my senior year, and consequently, my last year of Selah. I have been trying to get my little sister to join me on Sunday nights for a long time now and this Sunday, she did! I was proud of her for taking a new step in her relationship with God. For as long as she has been alive she has known prayer to be on her knees in the sanctuary with her head bowed. I believe Selah will be good for her, as it has been for me. She deserves to know what a holy pause is like, as does everyone. Selah. What a good thing to have again. I have missed it.

-Christina M