Recently I was leading a workshop on how clergy care for themselves. One of the suggestions was that clergy could use Scripture to help them process their own emotions. One of the pastors said, “I don’t know how to do that.” I can use Scripture to prepare sermons, teach classes, etc., but I’ve never used Scripture to reflect on what I was experiencing.” I’d like to think about that for the next couple of days.
One of the problems that my colleague recognized is that when you use Scripture professionally all day, you are not as likely to turn to it when you are not at work. If you do, you are likely to see in it possibilities for a sermon or a class. How do you learn to listen to God’s personal word to you through Scripture?
A good beginning is to review our understanding of the sacraments and how they prepare us for a sacramental view of life. While what I want to say would be true for a more Catholic view of the sacraments, I want to focus on that section of the Body of Christ that recognizes only two sacraments–Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
In both cases, our understanding is that God use ordinary elements, basic elements in life, water, bread, and wine, to direct us to invisible and eternal truths. While the sacraments point us towards God, they also reveal the presence of God in the ordinary aspects of life. A sacramental view of life is a perspective that looks for the presence of God and God’s word in all that we do.
As a pastor, one in a covenental relationship with the Divine, we are invited to listen to as well as speak on behalf of God. One of the gifts that God has provided us to enable that communication is Scripture.
So let us look tomorrow about how we open ourselves to that communication.
