Holiness in our Midst: Session 66

SESSION LXVI: ON ASKING JESUS

If Jesus were standing right here, right now, what would you ask Him?

I heard this question on Sunday morning, Sept. 19, 2004, during worship at a Church of the Brethren fellowship in Limeira, a city located 95 miles from Sao Paulo. I was traveling with a delegation visiting the denomination’s churches in Brazil in my role as coordinator for mission connections.

The pastor asked each of the thirty persons present, including children, to answer as a way of introducing ourselves to one another. The service was held in a poor section of the city, but there was a richness of spirit pervading the room. To a one, the children asked for help for others, not just themselves: a job for a mother, health for a sibling, food for their family, freedom from addiction for a friend. The depth of the local answers was enlightening; we as North Americans tended toward asking for things that enriched ourselves. (One pastor from our delegation was so taken with this question that he brought it back to his congregation to use for sharing time in his worship services.)

Having just completed my cancer journey (successfully!), my current answer to this question would be to ask Jesus to make plain my path in the coming months. I would ask Him: Where would You have me focus my time and energies as I go forth in gratitude with a new appreciation for the gift of life?

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: If Jesus were standing right here, right now, what would you ask Him?

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.
2. Write about a deeper need in your journal, using the Story Circle Prompt.

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1.   Read aloud Session LXVI.  
2.   Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

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Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison at communications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.