Watershed Online

Integrating Spirit and Learning

Listen: God Is Here

Spring/Summer 2007 Edition

Cycling through our inner city neighbourhood last summer, we were surprised by the spray-painted message on an apartment wall: ‘God is here’. God? Here? In the litter-strewn inner city where Winnipeg’s ‘murder capital’ moniker finds its home? On the streets where addiction and poverty wage war on souls? In our homes where worn-out marriages wear thin cloaks of civility? Yes, the Gospel of Luke says, God is here. Here, with the prostitute who sacrifices her wages and bears the scorn of a religious leader to sit at the feet of Jesus. Here, where a failing fisherman finds full nets and an invitation to his true vocation. And here, where a hated tax collector meets forgiveness.

We tend to be out of step with Kingdom of God values. We think God’s presence should mean that people have their lives together, that success reigns over failure. But the Kingdom doesn’t work that way. Just as in the Gospels, it’s here in the poverty of the inner city and in the poverty of our lives that the Kingdom breaks in. We’re aware angels announced the birth of Immanuel to shepherd outcasts, but who knew they’d roam our neighbourhoods with spray paint? Even the graffiti announces the Kingdom.

Join us in this edition as we pray the Lord’s Prayer. It’s the Abba prayer through which we hear forgiveness for our failure to recognize our Father, God. It’s the prayer through which we feel the Spirit nudging us to listen for the Kingdom of God in life everywhere. God. Here. The Kingdom breaking in, shards of light from the blazing source.

In For All Time, For All People, Arthur Paul Patterson reflects on the Abba prayer through which all who are part of our human troop are invited to speak to God.

In The Postmodern Man's Prayer, Erik Berg turns to 'Our Father' in the middle of an anxious night to find himself confronted and accompanied.

Joel Penner attempts to steer through the traffic of life with The Lord's Prayer as his guide in Behind the Wheel.

Cal Wiebe reviews N.T. Wright's essay in Teach Us to Pray.

Lydia Penner's John the Baptizer invites us to follow Marcus the tax collector's encounter with the radical message of John the Baptist.

In Let Down Your Nets, Eldon Heinrichs' reflection on Luke 5, we see Peter's longing for a new identity and vocation met by choosing to follow God.

Pearl of Great Price, Linda Tiessen Wiebe's response to the movie Pearl Diver, explores the theme of spiritual reconciliation.

Through the lens of L.A. Confidential and Psalm 139, Lydia Penner probes our radical self-centeredness and God's gift of knowledge and forgiveness.

Also In This Edition

  • A new video looks at The Lord's Prayer through the artistic eye of Verda Heinrichs.
  • Bev Patterson reflects on her painting meditation of the Lord’s Prayer.
  • Do you love watching movies and discovering their spiritually informative themes? We want to share our movie viewing experiences with you in A Movie Group Proposal.
  • Check out our latest course studies of Luke's Gospel in Study Nights.
  • Classic Cards: Arthur Paul Patterson's newest meditation on the Spirit.
  • More poems from Lydia Penner in Musings: Poems of the Everyday
  • We hope that our site is more accessible and pleasant to look at, but more importantly... (read more)

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