Looking for God

I used to love reading. At the moment I battle a little to concentrate, but as I recover I start remembering things I have read.

Whilst driving home this afternoon, I remembered what CS Lewis said about looking for God. He said: "Looking for God-or Heaven-by exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeare's plays in the hope that you will find Shakespeare as one of the characters..."

If God is not to be found in space, where is He? I think He is in His body - the Church. If you have read this blog over the past few months, you'll know that this is not a statement I can make casually.

Community remains a challenge in my life. To share - not only goods, but lives; to receive - I think giving is so much easier; to belong - even when you don't want to... to be a living sacrifice. To a large extent living as a sacrifice to God could be fairly easy - but when being a sacrifice means putting my own wants and needs aside for the greater good of His body, it can be challenging.

We are talking about fitting into the body in our community. The picture Paul chose implies that you have a role to play. You have to bring something to the party. And sometimes, you need to receive. That's how God made the body. Give and take.

It could have been more fun if we could choose our roles in the body, but on the other hand - we might have had seven heads and no kidneys. God made us the way we are. God called us to be a part of His body. God knows everything - our strengths, our weaknesses, what we need and what we can give.

The other day a colleague asked me about church - I was privileged to tell of people preparing dinner for me while my mom is in hospital and stewards looking our for me. There are people in my community who prayed for me when I could not pray. The next question was (not surprising) about what we believe? I could see the worry on his face - surely this had to be a weird sect. Not. We believe in God. We believe we should love Him with all our heart and passion and energy and those around us as ourselves. How we respond is determined by just this.

Community is give and take. Community is the place where I find God. Right there, in His body. Just like He promised.