Daily Devotional for Small Group Discussion: Always Sophia
Discussion Questions
- What resources help you practice being non-anxious and fully present while waiting for God?
- How does the Holy Spirit respond to your cries and equip you for living in anxious times?
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in [God’s] word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. – Psalm 130:5-6 (NRSV)
Maybe it is my empathic spirit, but I can literally feel it in my chest as the psalmist waits with bated breath, as she tries to be non-anxious and fully present.
Perhaps like me, you too need an image reminding us that our waiting on God is not in vain—even as the entire world watches and waits for the end of the daily terrors caused by inhumane policies and the ever-present evils of racism, greed, and militarism. Perhaps like me, you need reminders about how God has equipped us to co-create the kin-dom.
“Lord, hear our voice!” we cry with Psalm 130:2.
The Holy Spirit conjures up in my memory a response to that cry, written by the Rev. Jennifer Garrison in The Words of Her Mouth:
“Always Sophia leans in. … I speak, one word or a thousand. She hearkens. She hears. … Remind me that I have the voice to speak words that bring down and build up whenever necessary.”
I am grateful for reminders of God’s faithfulness, for words that linger with me and keep me company while waiting. I am grateful for Sophia—for Wisdom—who leans in and equips us.
Prayer
I remember, O God. I re-member, O God. Thank you for waiting and listening, too. Amen.
Marilyn Pagán-Banks (she/her/ella) is a queer womanist freedom fighter gratefully (though not always gracefully) serving as executive director of A Just Harvest, Senior Pastor at San Lucas UCC, and adjunct professor at McCormick Theological Seminary. She is a joyful contributor to The Words of Her Mouth.