Margaret Feinberg

It’s no secret that Last week, we kicked off “Wednesdays with Walter”. For those of you who missed the launch, Leif and I have struggled over the years to connect spiritually through our personal times of devotion. In the early days of our marriage, we tried a laundry list of things that simply didn’t work. We began reading Oswald Chambers together on January 1 one year. By January 18, we couldn’t even find the book. We attempted reading the same passages of scripture for discussion, but also felt a sense of awkward disconnect. We tried reading the same books, listening to the same sermons among other practices and yet it always felt forced, unnatural, anything but, well, organic. Those images of spiritual marital bliss faded into the reality that growing spiritually together as a couple takes time, perseverance and hard work.

Over the last few years, we’ve found something that works. (And when you find something that works when it comes to spiritual disciplines, do it and keep on doing it!) We sit on the couch beside each other in the morning and read whatever we’re reading. I’m currently enjoying Bruce K. Waltke’s commentary on Genesis; Leif is making his way through The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan. As we read, we sometimes hmmm or oooh-ahhhh aloud, signifying we’ve found something special, then we share what we’re reading and our responses. It’s natural. Non-forced. The practice works for us. When we’re done, we each read a prayer aloud from Walter Brueggemann’s Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth (a book given to us by our special friend Troy Champ). Then we spend time in prayer–for our families, our leaders, our friend, our world, and yes, you!–together aloud.

Brueggemann has a gift to bring hidden thoughts of the soul to light before God. Over the course of the fall, I wanted to share Walter Brueggemann with you every Wednesday. We invite you to join us for “Wednesdays With Walter” as you dive deeper in your own relation with God and prayer life:

At the dawn
Our first glimpse of reality this day, everyday, is your fidelity.
We are dazzled by the ways you remain constant among us,
in season, out of season,
for better, for worse,
in sickness and in health.
You are there in watchfulness as we fall asleep;
You are there in alertness when we awaken, and we are glad.
Before the day ends, we will have occasion
to flag your absence in indifference,
but not now, not at the dawn.
Before the day ends, we will look away from you and
relish our own fidelity and our virtue in mercy,
Now, at the dawn, our eyes are fixed on you in gladness.
We as only that your faithfulness
permeate every troubled place we are able to name,
that your mercy
move against the hurts to make new,
that your steadfastness
hold firmly what is too fragile on its own.
And we begin the day in joy, in hope, and in deep gladness. Amen.