I’ve never had God speak to me as directly as God did to Abram.  Wouldn’t it be something to hear a voice clearly coming to you with such a direct message? Abram, soon after to be Abraham, was 99. I’m not yet that old, so it could still happen for me.
I have had God “speak” to me, though. There are some very specific times in my life where I have felt God reach out to me, where the Holy Spirit has moved me. These have been pivotal times. To be honest, I’ve not always been receptive. Perhaps it’s my personality, my make up, but generally the encounter is less speaking and more struggling. It is more like Jacob’s struggle with the angel and less like Abraham’s story of a clear message. My parents would have told you that, at least as a teenager, I always reacted to authority that way.
If God could be a bit more direct, that would help. That is not how it works, for me anyway. I have a feeling that may be about my responsibility to listen for God’s voice. God is always with me. I feel that. I know that. But, I find myself to be very American, at least as Winston Churchill may (or may not) have described us: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing- after they’ve tried everything else.”
This Lent, I am working on listening for God’s voice with an open heart and an open mind, and to be moved by the Holy Spirit.

Thom Sinclair

Appointed readings for today: Genesis 17:1-8, Psalm 105:4-11, John 8:51-59