Week 2: Movement

This week we consider the theme of movement within the spiritual life. Waiting in darkness and uncertainty – a key aspect of Black Spirituality as we have seen – does not mean not moving. It means joining in with a God who is moving always within us, around us, and ahead of us. God is movement. God is life.

Prayer for the Week

God of our ancestors, you have moved in generations past, and continue to move us in the present into your glorious future. Give us faith to trust you in the uncertainties of life. Amen.

Abraham: A model of movement

Week 2: Monday
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Reading

Genesis 12.1-9

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages towards the Negeb.

Reflection

Abram – whose name is later changed to Abraham – is held up as a symbol of faith or faithfulness throughout the Bible. God seems to have a way of calling people to do what is uncommon with the assurance that God is present in the moving and in the doing. God abundantly blesses and brings about his promises – however unlikely they seem to be at the outset.

It’s in this painful move away from his father’s home that God appears and promises Abram a land that he passes through. Abram does not understand how or when God’s plan might be fulfilled, but nevertheless makes an altar to the Lord.

Black history is one where forced migration meant the leaving of the motherland, Africa. The unspeakable horror of this history remains unresolved, but out of this, much of the world has been blessed through Black Spirituality, ingenuity, creativity, and strength.

Watch

What are the ways in which your life journeys have shaped your life?

…and pray

for openness to God’s unfolding plan for your life.

Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.