Where do I feel closest to God?

Posted 18 Feb 2011

My pastor asked me this question on 15/02/2011 & I said then that it was when I am up a mountain. Like the time I climbed up one in North Vietnam in March 2006. I had to leave my backpack in a rock crevice & climb up the last few feet to the top! I was surprised to hear laughter coming up from Vietnamese workers in a field, far below me. I had mistakenly (& somewhat naively!) believed that in a Communist country there would be no laughter! Anyway, sitting on that rocky mountain top, watercolour painting in the glorious sunshine, admiring the amazing view (see photo below) that was the sort of place I associate with being close to God.

Over the past few weeks I have come to realise that writing is one of the ways that I pray! I didn’t know you could pray by writing… but apparently you can! When I sit in on the church prayer meetings on Monday evenings, I often write notes & draw little pictures in pen. Sometimes God points out that the pictures relate to something that has been said, or prayed. Sometimes He prompts me to share what I have drawn, & it becomes clear that He is using my drawings to tell us all something about what we are praying for. I’m a kind of doodle-prophet!!!

I write a daily diary & occasional journal as well. Then there is this blog. I also type notes, thoughts & research bits of the Bible & write my thoughts about that too. It was quite a shock then, when, just now, I realised that my personal way of praying is through writing & typing! As I type I am conscious of God, & in fact my writings, musings, thoughts, questions & stream-of-consciousness typing are all ways of personally connecting with God.

You’d think that it would be when I am drawing cartoons, wouldn’t you? But often, when I am doing that, I am revisiting events in my past. Rather than being God-focussed, it seems that my drawing makes me past-focussed, for some strange reason!

Therefore, I conclude that I feel closest to God when I am writing or typing!

Vietnam Mountain 01 – view of the mountain I climbed whilst at Sapa, in North Vietnam, in 2006.

Vietnam Mountain 02 – I climbed right to the top & looked over the edge!

Vietnam Mountain 03 – the view from the top, looking down.

Comments

Comments are turned off for this article