I lift up my eyes to the hills

"I’ve always rather liked that image of prayer as bird-watching. You sit very still because something is liable to burst into view, and sometimes of course it means a long day sitting in the rain with nothing very much happening, and I suspect that most of us know that a lot of our experience of prayer is precisely that." ~ Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury


This past weekend the six Region Missionaries from Connecticut gathered together for a weekend of prayer and contemplative practice at Camp Washington. While we were there, we had time in silence, learned some simple chants, and time for fellowship. Throughout the activities and the time that we spent together one thing became abundantly clear to me - God is so alive in Connecticut. Whether we were sitting in prayer, participating in Eucharist, walking the trails around the lake, or playing on the ropes course, God was there. And now that we have gone back to our homes and regions, God is here too.

It sounds so simple, and yet...can so often feel like long days of silent waiting in the rain, as Rowan Williams describes. As we sat in prayer as a group of Missionaries I thought back through my time as your Region Missionary in South Central Connecticut. So much of this experience has been like birdwatching, waiting in the rain for a flash of the Divine, and then the mad rush to pursue! All of the asking, where is God in this? What might God be doing here, now? Are ways of cleaning the binoculars, finding a shady spot to nestle in, and to get ready for that moment when God appears in a flash of bright color through the trees. These are followed by conversation over cups of coffee, walks around town greens, and visits to soup kitchens, town fairs, and committee meetings. All of the ideas, conversations, and dreams, which are like tearing off through the underbrush to perhaps sit with and really get to know that illusive creature that went whizzing by.

Service leaflets from SC Connecticut.

Over the past four months I have caught glimpses - a flash of color in Naugatuck at the outdoor ecumenical service, a strain of melody at the three choirs evensong in New Haven, a feather on the ground in North Branford at their summer play, a nest in the bushes at Dinner for a Dollar in Hamden, and tracks on the ground in West Haven at the joint beach service - all glimpses of the Divine alive, active, and creative in South Central Connecticut.

As we sat in prayer together at Camp Washington, I learned that these God-sightings are all over Connecticut - in moments of joy and sadness, triumph and loss, in the mundane and in moments of major transition. Most days it might feel like waiting in the rain, and then, out of nowhere God bursts in more glorious than we could have imagined. The challenge for us, is to nestle in and watch for God who is abundantly, beautifully, and completely present.