Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

Reflecting on Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, 6-8

Last week I received a call from the Lost and Found office at the Denver airport, telling me my keys had been found on the grounds outside.  (I had dropped them while getting out of the car there.)  When I arrived, the clerk asked me for some description of them.  I told her about the different keys—what in the world DO they open, I wondered—but she wanted something more definitive.  How about the keychain?  Can you describe it?

Oh good.  I can do this.  Let’s see.  I think it’s red.  Yes, red something.  Maybe with some kind of pattern.  Isn’t that enough for you?  She looked at me with a funny expression.  Do you have the time? Odd that she would ask, with the clock right behind her. I glanced at my watch, then back at her face, then back at my watch again.  Ha!  Of course!  My watch and my keychain are the exact same set. If I would just notice my watchband, right there on my wrist, I could describe my keychain.  But I’m so used to my watch on my wrist that I don’t notice it, even when it’s screaming to get my attention.

Our connection with God is like that. The author of the first reading from Deuteronomy got it right: For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? It’s the nearness of God, closer than our breath, closer than our heartbeat, which we find so hard to access, yet God is never as close as when we call for help.

Call on God today.  Then watch carefully for the things very near to you.  God is there.

In what ways do you sense the nearness of God?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

Ordinary Time - Cycle B