Spirituality
AM Psalm 72 • PM Psalm 119:73-96
1 Kings 22:1-28 • 1 Cor. 2:1-13 • Matt. 4:18-25
I tend to describe myself as more of a spiritual person than a religious one. While I connect with God through church and bible study, I often feel that connection more intensely in places that I don’t go looking for God. In those moments of connection there is a deep sense of something very separate from myself. The emotions and insights come from within, but are guided and sensed from something that is clearly not the me I experience on a daily basis.
In the New Testament reading for today, spirituality is described as a gift. To understand spiritual truths we must be inherently spiritual. This really spoke to me in the phase of life I am in. In a matter of 6 months I moved across the country, started medical school, joined the military, and had huge fluctuations in my relationships. This change has shaken my worldview. In this transition, I have found myself drawn more to the spiritual than what I classically envisioned as spiritual truths. I am seeing Jesus on the metro and in the newness of my relationships and finding God in the soaking rainstorms and my afternoon drives with the windows down. This passage contextualized my yearning as searching for the experience of the spiritual. Recently I’ve struggled to gain meaning from the Bible and routine as I have in the past. In this time of change it isn’t surprising that my spirituality is evolving too. In searching for the spiritual, I hope that I can see these spiritual truths with new eyes. I think all of us could benefit from taking a step back and removing any constraints we have placed on our relationship with God. Often God shines through differences in people and experiences, reminding us that such diversity is from the same source. In embracing the Spirit as a gift, we are able to occasionally transcend the human thought process and approach our faith with a Christ-like mind.
Written by Hadley Thomas
Hadley graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a biochemistry degree in December and has spent the spring semester working as a staff assistant in the U.S. Senate. She was recently commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and began medical school at the Uniformed Services University in August. She is passionate about her faith and is excited to share her perspective and interpretations with the amazing congregation of Saint Paul’s.