Ladders and Ladders
Genesis 28:10-19
First Reading for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Year A)
God has this knack for showing up in the places we don’t expect. For Jacob, it was in the middle of nowhere when he was on the run. He dreamt of a ladder (or a stairway or a ramp) going to heaven. Messengers of God were ascending and descending. The God stood beside Jacob and reminded this wayward man that the Almighty would be with him wherever he went. “I will keep you,” God said. And I think all that most of us really want is to be kept.
So instead of dissecting this passage or providing some sort of devotional thought, I am just going to share a few of the ladders that have popped up in my life recently. Without any real explanation, these are the places, the moments, and whatever other unexpected things that have reminded me that God is with me. I encourage you do to the same. Write them down even. Where have been those spots where you have felt God with you?
My entire experience at the Teens 4 Equality protest in which a group of teenage girls led 10,000 people in a peaceful protest march through Nashville
Monday morning runs with some of my students
The “I guess I found my peace again” bridge of “Everything Else Has Gone Wrong” by Bombay Bicycle Club
Front porch conversations with students and parents who we have mostly seen on computer screens for months
The perseverance of friends who are going through great trials
The people who brought us dinner when I was sick
The swelling build of “Marching Bands of Manhattan” by Death Cab for Cutie
The closing credits of WALL-E
Talking with my grandfather through a nursing home window
Running with my dad, hugging my mom, hanging out with my brother and his family, and my mom’s cookie cake
The bravery of so many in this world right now
Renée Elise Goldsberry performing “Satisfied” in Hamilton
Pearson’s Falls in North Carolina
Talking on the phone with my sister
Superman going to the ends of the universe to find one lost girl in Superman: Up in the Sky by Tom King
Every snippet of a video from a student that made up Youth Sunday back in May
Morning smoothies
Writing things and finding out that I’m a little less alone than I thought
Talking on the couch with EA
Playing Mario Kart with my boys
Encouraging emails and texts
Being outside
And much, much more
