Thursday, April 10
Drawn Like a Magnet
O God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. – Psalm 63:1
It’s the craziest thing. My cat Meli loves music. While her sibling Juba ‘leaves the building’ at the first hint of a musical tone, Meli sits calmly by and listens intently. She lounges lazily beside me on the piano bench when I’m practicing a piece or lies contentedly at my feet when I play the violin. But it’s the concertina (small English squeezebox) that draws her so strongly. If I sit at the kitchen table with my music in front of me, Meli jumps onto the table and plaintively utters several almost silent meows. She moves into my lap and ‘kisses’ the concertina and eventually climbs between me and the instrument, making it impossible to continue playing. There’s something seductive and irresistible in the tone of the concertina that draws her like a magnet. She is inconsolable if I remove it from her presence.
In a way, I am like Meli. I am drawn to the sacred word of God in scripture. The beauty and mystery of the words sing to me like a Siren’s song, call me to pray, inspire me to create, bring me to tears.
I have always had a love affair with words. Language delights me. Etymology fascinates me. Words call to me. I have become a writer of sorts in recent years and love to weave words into meaningful thought or compelling poetry. And now, wonder of wonders, I find that God beckons me through my love of words. Like a magnetic force, the Psalms pull at me through their images of comfort, peace and worship. In the silence of early morning, I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the beauty of the poetry of Isaiah and Jeremiah. In this season of Lent, I sense the profound sadness in the tender words Jesus speaks at the last supper.
The word of God inspires, uplifts, challenges, soothes. It fills me with longing and makes me thirst for more. What a wonderful gift we have received from our amazing creator!
Gracious God who summons, thank you for using our yearnings to draw us closer to you. Help us be attentive to the passions you have planted in us. We pray that you use them in some way to further your kingdom. Amen.
Betty Schroeder