As a seminary assignment this month we were to write a 20 minute long inspirational talk, and then, cut it down to 4 minutes to share with our class.
Introduction
Welcome, and good morning to you.
As a school writing assignment, I needed to write a 20-minute inspiration talk. I chose to talk about where I am with trusting God. Here, I would like to share how, in the process of developing the talk, I was gifted with love and support from God.
The phrase ‘love and support’ has popped into my mind several times in the past month as I have had my Zoom calls with groups and mentors from seminary. In those moments I was filled with gratitude. As I look back now over my writing process, the blessings continued to come.
Loved and supported.
At the start of this assignment, my thoughts about trust were on the many times that I stressed over a situation and then would come to realize that I had not trusted God with it. This was where my focus was, but as I wrote about what it means to me to trust in God, I began to see synchronicities show me that, indeed, I do trust in God.
One example happened when I was in the middle of a section about service to others. This part of the writing sat unfinished for a couple of days, meanwhile, I held the sense that when I got back to it what would develop would be meaningful — my intuition was correct.
This section of the talk began fearful, but, as I wrote, a more positive perspective on service emerged. And with this, a new perspective of God emerged.
From my more positive perspective, I noticed in my body that my heart felt lite. This good feeling said to me that when connecting with others, trust in God does not feel like a belief in something outside of me. Instead, I was feeling aligned with the Presence of Love that is in me. This God felt easy to trust.
Within 24 hours of writing this part of the assignment, I came across a quote by Howard Thurman which said, “When I love people, then I find God in me.”[i]
Thanks Spirit, for the affirmation!
Another experience that affirmed my reflection on trust came in conversation. As I was wrapping up my draft of the talk, I had a meeting with my dean. In response to his asking of how I was doing, I answered that I noticed growth within myself. He then asked me, what was the growth?
As I thought of how to describe the change, I recognized first, that I held less fear. There is still some nervousness to think of speaking to others, but a part of me says, ‘just do it, it will be fine’. (Like in this moment.) The other thing I noticed is a deeper understanding and connection to God from a clearer mind and a shining heart.
I recognized that these feelings of less fear and deeper connection were aspects of trust. Suddenly, trust in God went from being something I felt I still needed to achieve to being part of who I am.
Conclusion.
This writing assignment brought me many gifts. I realized my trust in God. I noticed synchronicities that affirm that I am on the right path. And I feel blessed and full of gratitude from knowing that I am loved and supported on this path of ministry.
[i] Howard Thurman, The Way of the Mystics (Orbis Books, 2021), 115-116. Note: this quote was offered in the cac.org Daily Meditation of 2-12-2025.