The Interior Life

Today I was asked by a newspaper reporter what it is I preach about if it is not politics. He is writing a story about how different churches deal with the up-coming election. I explained that in the Episcopal Church we do not instruct our members on how they should vote. We respect each other's points of view on politics even when we disagree because we know that it is our faith in God that unites us in ways that politics never can. So what have I been preaching about? Today at a local retirement center, I spoke about prayer and the interior life. No matter what our circumstances, God is with us and at work in us. No matter what is going on in the world, our life with God is stable and dependable--and it is often in prayer that we have the most clear sense of what is important in life. Even as age may limit us in external ways, our interior life can flourish. Even for those in the prime of life, it is the life of prayer and the practices of faith that keep us grounded in what is really true. Last week, I preached about the current financial situation and how we can rely on our Christian faith to deal with the anxiety so evident in the world around us and sometimes within us. It is through the nurturing of our interior life that we can put the rest of life into the proper perspective. Thanks be to God.