— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”
Psalm 118:24
Last week my religion course at school went to the convent in Sießen, spent time with the sisters, learned about Saint Francis of Assisi and his life with the parallels of Jesus Christ’s life. Spent time in nature, reflecting on the word, on our thoughts and on what was happening around us there and then.
The convent was secluded, with fields and trees encompassing us from the chaos of daily life with notifications, calls, to-dos, reminders, conversations, scrolling, the thought of “im not doing enough”.
Our days were structured with impulses, prayers, creative activities, free time, gardening, meals and the best part was none of us had our phones with us, the whole three days it stayed in our rooms and we spent every second we could with each other enjoying the moment.
It’s easy to look for God on Sunday morning or during a weekend getaway, but He is just as present on a chaotic Wednesday afternoon.
We took the time to sit in silence, listen to the birds, meditate on the word and put in effort to really feel God’s presence with us, and that effort, me taking the step and actively try to feel and see God, I felt him, in the sisters and their raw faith, in my classmates thoughts to the meditations, in my own thoughts as I meditated on the word.
Spending time with God is a lost form of communicating with him. Going to church every Sunday doesn’t make one the perfect Christian. Having faith and taking the time to converse with God, meditate on the word, do good in his name, love the neighbour as oneself, that is how one makes a good Christian (there is no such thing as a perfect Christian).
I learned over the three days the importance of being in the moment, making the effort with God and not expecting him to make the first move every time, and the simple joys of life, like the sun on my face and the little conversations we had that we otherwise in the classroom wouldn’t have had and the connections we made and felt being amongst such faith and belief.
It’s easy to let life take the reigns and follow one box on the checklist after the next but with this short meditation i ask you to try and sit in silence, open a window, listen to the birds, find the slice of life where it’s in your hands and list three things you are grateful for, big or small, and spend a moment in prayer, in conversation with God with gratitude in your heart. And maybe ask yourself “Where-When-How-in Whom did I feel God’s presence today?”
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 