Letting Our Lives (and God) Speak

The Rev. Jennifer Gregg, Co-Coordinator, Loving the Questions

Too often in the church, the word “discernment” is equated with transition and choice points associated with vocation. More specifically, our work in the world and the specific orders of priest and deacon. This is true and it is also true that we are all called to be Christ’s hands and feet in this world every day. God calls to us to live holy lives all the time: calling us to different vocations both inside and outside the Body of Christ, and into a way of being that tells the story of God’s Good News in Christ.

This is what Jesus taught his disciples. It is what the Communion of Saints bears witness to in their own place and time. We need spaces where we can practice listening for God’s movement both in the moments of daily life and through the arc of our lives, especially at transition points. This is the work of Loving the Questions. It is a "both/and" space.

We wonder about vocations. We consider gifts. We search God out. We ask (in a variety of different ways):

• God where is your presence?

• How is the Spirit moving in and through my life and my neighbors?

• Where am I getting in the way?

• If I were to let go of my need to be certain, where might my curiosities lead?

• What new ways might I try on being?

While we wrestle and work our way through the questions, our community is shaped by three central Foundations (from Shalem Institute’s model of Group Spiritual Direction) which shape our container:

• Spiritual Discernment

• Spiritual Community

• Intercessory/Interconnected Prayer

Some come to clarity about next steps. Some do not. Some move forward to continue to discern the priesthood or the diaconate. Others decide the work of being a teacher, an engineer, a caretaker, or a prophetic voice on their vestry are just as holy.

So, when was the last time you listened to the life longing to emerge from the chaotic current of daily demands? To let the questions which get pushed down or brushed aside float their way to the top and break through the surface? To be seen and known in a community of people who are also curious? What would it take to give yourself permission to claim such a space for yourself?

These are the gifts and the space Loving the Questions seeks to inhabit. Your presence with us would be a gift. Come and listen with us and let God, through your life, speak. ♦