Theological Reflection: Finding God in our Experience
by Joan Groff, LPCC
At a recent PPI in-service on "Family Stories and Narrative Theology", one staff member began with a poignant family vignette from his own childhood at the age of 10, where he was ridiculed by an adult he had trusted implicitly. The staff then reflected on the images of God present in that story, especially from the mind and heart of the 10 year old boy. "God is insensitive to your fears and likes to play jokes," said one. Another commented, "God doesn't understand when you're hurting." Other comments spoke to how the 10 year old might have experienced God in that moment.
The question then became "What was the family theology the little boy learned from this experience?" A period of quiet reflection followed. "The powerful Mother God is one who saves from torment" offered one staff member. Another commented on how God rewards those who work hard and give good service to others. The presenter shared the lesson he intuited: "You're not allowed to enjoy life too much." He recognizes this message has stayed with him all his life.
The staff members then went off in twos to share a snippet from their own family story, and to probe the image of God and the family theology learned from experience. As we gathered back in the large group for our learnings each commented in some way on the power of the process. Almost everyone expressed how touched they were to reflect in this way on their own experience, and how moved they were by the sacredness of sharing another colleague's story.
Theological reflection is indeed powerful. So many of us hunger for meaning in our lives and search for who God is amidst the turmoil and stress of daily living. But how often do we take time to reflect on how we perceive God is working in our everyday lives? Anyone, whether pastors, pastoral staff, Church ministers, pastoral counselors or lay people who takes time for this reflection will be richly rewarded. God is always revealing God's self to us in our human experiences, both individually and communally; but more often than not, we remain unaware of God's continuing revelation.
Many churches have developed small Christian communities or faith groups where individual stories are shared and God's word is revealed. Theological reflection groups are another way where, together, we can hear God's word better than any one of us can hear it alone. This active listening process enables us to make connections between faith and life, and to affirm our human everyday experiences as one source of God's presence, truth and love.
The beauty of theological reflection is that it provides the opportunity to trust others enough to search with us for God's will and presence in our experiences. How dramatic it is when we discover that our childhood images of God continue to be operative and impact our adult theology in spite of our learned and preached theology. So, in the shared theological reflections process we are opened to change, and then gradually to transform our lives.
Perhaps you might try the very simple but profound process we used at PPI as one way of moving into theological reflection. There are many other ways of reflecting theologically which incorporate reflecting on shared experiences in the light of our culture, our tradition and the Scriptures. God is present and active in every moment of our lives. How important it is to continue to find ways to become more aware of this reality.
Reprinted with permission from PPImprints, the Journal of The Professional Pastoral-Counseling Institute, Inc. To be notified when PPImprints is published, please register.
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