Come with Me

When I was in graduate school, part of how I coped with the stress of it all was to take really hard fitness classes at the YMCA. That might seem like a weird response to paper writing anxiety, but it really helped me to release my stress and also showed me that I could do hard things. If I could get through that boot camp class, I could write that paper. And the class I loved the most was, in fact, a boot camp class. I loved it because the instructor would always do the hardest exercises first, so I knew that if I could get through the beginning of class, I’d be golden. The other reason I loved it was that, when the instructor asked us to do all the hard things, she would do them with us. “Come with me,” she would say when we were all standing there dumbfounded at what she was asking us to do. One second I was thinking, “Whoa, I don’t think my body can do that,” and the next moment I was on the floor, doing a push-up and a plank jack and a burpee.

That class was, and was not, like real life. In real life, there’s no guarantee that we’ll experience the hardest things first and get them over with. Our personal hardships may come, ready or not, when we’re young or when we’re older. Difficulty may come all along the way. One thing that’s true, though, is that we know God is with us. When the hard things come, God accompanies us, and God is there all along way. “Come with me,” God says. And we do. That doesn’t stop the hard things from coming, but it does mean we’re not alone when they do.

This assurance of God’s presence with us is what I notice throughout our readings this Sunday. Our First Reading assures us that God’s Wisdom has been present since the beginning of time. And what a playful, fun presence it is! So often, images of God are so serious, but this one is frisky and fun-loving. It delights in creation. It delights in us, despite, all the issues that come with us. I don’t often think of God as fun, but why not? I mean, God brought monkeys and goats into existence, and they’re fun. God brought about lightning bugs and flashlight fish. How cool and interesting is that? Maybe God is totally fun, and we humans are boring and serious. We should play more.

The Second Reading from Romans offers encouragement of God’s presence, particularly during the hard, not fun times in our lives. “Affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” We can’t control whether we have “afflictions” or not and what those might be, and it’s more than likely that we will have them. It’s just part of life. I do take tremendous comfort knowing that enduring all those hard things will make me more hopeful. Maybe taking my boot camp class makes sense after all. Physical endurance might produce spiritual endurance. Let’s hope so.

And our Gospel. Jesus assures his disciples, including us, that the Spirit is coming, and that Spirit will reveal the truth to us. Its presence with us is not a one-time event; it will keep speaking, and it continues to do so.

Each of these readings helps us to enter into Trinity Sunday, a feast my community also calls Providence Sunday. And for me, what these readings and this feast confirm is that God is with us. We belong to God. We live our lives of faith and do challenging things and grow through our lives, and all along God provides for us. God loves us and cares for us and guides us and helps us to grow.

God speaks to our hearts and minds; God speaks through each person and through our experiences. The Wisdom that was present at the beginning of time is still with us now. God is present to us in all the ways in which we accompany each other as God’s own community. Much like the Trinity, which is relationship, we are in relationship with each other and with God. We help each other to grow and to move through the hard times and to find God in all of it. We also help each other to play, to not take this serious life too seriously, to not take ourselves too seriously. We endure hard things, but life is not an endurance test. It’s meant to be enjoyed. As we move through this life together may it be an epic adventure, one in which we have a good time and enjoy each moment.

As we move through this life communally, we know that God is deeply with us. As we play, rest, work hard, suffer, and hope, God is present, caring for us with deep, deep tenderness. The invitation I hear for all of us is to trust God’s love and presence with us, to trust it so deeply that we surrender to it. We accept what is and also work to make the world better, and God comes with us as we accompany each other. Like the Trinity, we are one, and we live this life together. Amen.

For reflection:

• Have you ever had an experience of accompaniment, one in which someone else was with you, present to you, as you navigated a hard or significant time? What was that like? Have you ever felt God accompanying you during a hard time?

• Have you ever accompanied someone else? Maybe you were a mentor or a spiritual companion or a friend. What was that like? How did you experience God?

• What helps you notice God’s providence, to God’s love and care and presence, with you?

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She enjoys music, meaningful conversations, and dancing.