God at Panera
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"— which means, "God with us." — Matthew 1:23
I’m eating lunch at Panera. I grab my food and nod my head to pray. Sometimes I do this. Sometimes I don’t. It always feels weird, but I feel better when I do. So I pray.
I look up and begin to eat. I dip into my soup and listen to a theological conversation happening behind me. An Episcopalian priest is educating a follower on the nature of fallen man and his relationship to God. It’s an interesting conversation in light of what I see in front of me. Three elderly women have gathered around a table for lunch. They hold hands and pray with sincerity. To my right, a woman eating by herself has something about St. Francis on her shirt. Behind her a middle-aged couple sits in a booth. The gentleman is too young for an oxygen tank, but he has one. His wife is wearing a simple cross around her neck. They haven’t lost hope.
God and thoughts of God are still surrounding us. God is still and will always be central to our way of life. No matter how much the world and the media and people who don’t know Him wish to cut him out of the equation, God will not be forgotten. Why?
It’s because hope is found in God. Real hope happens when we continue to look to Him and for Him. Hopelessness happens when we’ve abandoned the search and given up on the relationship. Hopelessness happens in my own life when I become so enamoured of myself that I don’t need to look to him and I don’t need to listen, so I ignore and stay away.
I love this about God. He’s invisible, and yet most of us believe in Him and many of us trust Him more than anyone else we know. Who else could make their presence known in such subtle ways as to be unrecognized and recognized all at the same time? Just a taste of God in your life will make you miss Him when you get too busy.
I don’t have a problem with faith. Maybe I’m gullible. But I sure enjoy the hope. I’ll spend a lifetime savoring it until hope is no more and joy is our ever-present reality. Until that day, I’ll settle for glimpsing God at Panera and listening to signs of him in the air.
I’m eating lunch at Panera. I grab my food and nod my head to pray. Sometimes I do this. Sometimes I don’t. It always feels weird, but I feel better when I do. So I pray.
I look up and begin to eat. I dip into my soup and listen to a theological conversation happening behind me. An Episcopalian priest is educating a follower on the nature of fallen man and his relationship to God. It’s an interesting conversation in light of what I see in front of me. Three elderly women have gathered around a table for lunch. They hold hands and pray with sincerity. To my right, a woman eating by herself has something about St. Francis on her shirt. Behind her a middle-aged couple sits in a booth. The gentleman is too young for an oxygen tank, but he has one. His wife is wearing a simple cross around her neck. They haven’t lost hope.
God and thoughts of God are still surrounding us. God is still and will always be central to our way of life. No matter how much the world and the media and people who don’t know Him wish to cut him out of the equation, God will not be forgotten. Why?
It’s because hope is found in God. Real hope happens when we continue to look to Him and for Him. Hopelessness happens when we’ve abandoned the search and given up on the relationship. Hopelessness happens in my own life when I become so enamoured of myself that I don’t need to look to him and I don’t need to listen, so I ignore and stay away.
I love this about God. He’s invisible, and yet most of us believe in Him and many of us trust Him more than anyone else we know. Who else could make their presence known in such subtle ways as to be unrecognized and recognized all at the same time? Just a taste of God in your life will make you miss Him when you get too busy.
I don’t have a problem with faith. Maybe I’m gullible. But I sure enjoy the hope. I’ll spend a lifetime savoring it until hope is no more and joy is our ever-present reality. Until that day, I’ll settle for glimpsing God at Panera and listening to signs of him in the air.
posted by 1daymore at
9:53 AM
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