4th Direction Point: Pray and Practice
Closing reflection –
While God created the Garden as “good” and as a communal space to be with him/her, the “serpent” was also there. As one who leads/tempts us toward making choices (for better or for worse), it nevertheless seems to embody free will itself: it represents the ability to question God’s plan and act on it. While we wrestle with what the serpent has come to mean, might God have indeed created it for a reason? As a typology for free will, what divine role might it play in our lives? We pray that we may use this gift wisely, our choices always reflecting the self-sacrificial God of love, compassion and mercy.
Prayer –
Lord God, we confess to you we often use the precious gift of free will in destructive ways that tend to reflect our desire to be you rather than follow you as opposed to using it to elevate and bless others. We grieve over the fact that you had to die to yourself in order to make up for our self-serving weakness. We pray you may not hold our willfulness against us but teach us to make better choices and give us the courage and strength to do so. We beg your ongoing forgiveness and patience with us. May we now be a source of light, not darkness. Help us to enter the Garden one more. Alleluia. Amen.
How this passage spoke to me:
How my life will be transformed by it:
My plan of action is: