This has been one of my busiest and most exhausting weeks at work, truly depleting. It is ironic that I am asked to speak a testimony of God’s work in my life today. Or is it serendipitous? It raises for me the real challenge of balancing the inner and outer journeys of my life and faith. So, I have remembered two book titles that sum it up. First, God is the Still Point in the Turning World. Second, Are you Running with me Jesus? I could stop there.

I told the gathering of the Worship and Welcome Ministry Tuesday night that I needed to have my soul catch up with my body. I want to find that still point amidst all the changes and running and distractions. How do we do this? At different times Scripture reading, sometimes journaling, but for me recently it has been breath prayer, a simple way to be still, to affirm God’s presence and life. I use and repeat a phrase like, “living water, renew, flow through,” or “God of light, lead the way.” Linking those words to my breathing has been calming and centering. It allows me to linger in the promise of God’s life in me. It allows me to soak in the Spirit.

But then I believe God enters the fray with me, Jesus running if need be. I count on it. I don’t believe God is on the sidelines. God is there to prompt with unconventional and foolish wisdom, to give strength and compassion beyond my own. I need that as I support people living with the challenge of mental illness.