Week Four - Longing

Gather the cup, the plate and the bowl, and set them before you as you consider the following:


Scripture
Directed by God, the whole company of Israel moved on by stages from the Wilderness of Sin. They set camp at Rephidim. And there wasn’t a drop of water for the people to drink. The people took Moses to task: “Give us water to drink.” But Moses said, “Why pester me? Why are you testing God?” But the people were thirsty for water there. They complained to Moses, “Why did you take us from Egypt and drag us out here with our children and animals to die of thirst?” Moses cried out in prayer to God, “What can I do with these people? Any minute now they’ll kill me!” God said to Moses, “Go on out ahead of the people taking with you some of the elders of Israel. Take the staff you used to strike the Nile. And go. I’m going to be present before you there on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will gush out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did what he said, with the elders of Israel right there watching. He named the place Massah (Testing-Place) and Meribah (Quarreling) because of the quarreling of the Israelites and because of their testing of God when they said, “Is God here with us, or not?”
- Exodus 17:1-7

Reflection
Today we find ourselves in a time like no other in recent history. We are separated from one another, isolated in our homes, distanced from the people and places we love. 
We are thirsty for life; we are hungry for togetherness. It might be easy for us to ask: 
“Is God here with us, or not?”
As a church, we are experiencing a sense of longing. We are longing to be together, to pass the peace of Christ with our hugs and handshakes. We are longing to worship with each other, to speak face to face, to sing as one voice, to baptize our new babies, and to share the bread and the cup at the Table with one another.  We currently find ourselves in the wilderness, and just like the Israelites, we are thirsty. And just as in Exodus, God will provide in our wilderness. Until we can be together again and share from the abundance of the Table with Christ and with one another, God will somehow find a way to bring forth water from a rock to nourish us.


Questions
1. What do you find yourself longing for? What would it look like for you to be “nourished”?
2. Have you ever felt like asking the question: “Is God here with us, or not?”


Prayer
God, You make a way when there is no way. You provide water in the wilderness, nourishment when we need it because You are the Living Water and the Bread of Life. Amen.


Activity Suggestions for Young Ones
- Coloring page below
- Paint rocks and place them on a shelf or in a garden so that you can see them and remember them as a symbol that God shows up for us.
- Fill a glass with water and with each sip say a prayer telling God about something you miss or long for (example: sip- “God, I miss seeing my grandparents.” sip- “God, I really wish I could be at school.”)





Featured Artwork: Promises from At God’s Table/En La Mesa de Dios by Joel Schoon Tanis

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