I do not look at anything that happens to me in my life as being trivial or insignificant. Every event, observation, person, place and every thing that I experience go into the building material of who I am and who I will be in the process of my becoming. They are the building blocks of my personal growth and development. Therefore, I cannot look upon my experiences whether they are pleasant or unpleasant, as being trite.

I say this because I believe that everything I experience has some constructive meaning for my life. Every death, not only deaths of my loved ones, but even the deaths I only hear about or read about is sending me a message. Hurricane Katrina devastation sent me a message. It reminded me that I am never fully secure and to not become too self-assured. The hand of God can find me as it does anyone else. The Boeing 737 Southwest Airlines jet that plowed through a fence and into a street killing a 6-year-old boy in a car sent me a message. It reminded me that tomorrow is not promised to me and death is no respecter of age.

So what I am saying is that I cannot look upon my experiences as being of little consequence. Every birth communicates a message to me. Every marriage, crisis, accident, incident, every event has some meaning for us. I dare not look upon the crisis of other folks as being trivial, because God is trying to say something to me even in the crisis that others may be experiencing.

God is preaching every day and in every way. Providence is God’s sermon and the earth His pulpit. Everything we see and hear around us is God’s thoughts and words to us. His message is clear; return to your Creator before it is too late.

He is telling us:

You belong to me. I am your Father. I created you and I know all about you. I know your thoughts before you think them, know what you are going to do before you do it and I know what you are going to say before you say it. All the hairs on your head are numbered. I know all the cells in your body; in me you move and live and have your being and without me you are nothing. Without me you are dead, lost, doomed to everlasting hellfire. I sustain you, I clothe you, I awaken you, and I take care of you, so return to me, your Creator.

Stop fighting me, you cannot win. Stop running from me, you cannot hide. Stop sinning; you cannot be victorious without me. I am GOD and besides me there is no other. I am God all by myself.

In His Name!

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. She is the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach which can be reviewed on her site. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, though delayed in publication, is expected to be available early 2006.

Saundra also teaches an online grief class which can be reviewed at: Grief Relief

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