Invite God Into the Equation



 “Prayer matters because when God is brought into the equation of life, something changes. Another possibility emerges.” Bishop Michael Curry, Love is the Way


I keep returning to this quote from our Presiding Bishop’s book. Rarely do we use basic mathematical concepts in theology and this one makes such sense to me. It makes me smile. Moreover, we often get stuck in the waiting as though it were a one directional thing: God toward us. This principle seems to give humans some authority, some instrumentality. It signals a mutuality of process. 

Bishop Curry’s examples of balancing equations are equally (no pun intended) helpful. Summoning God in moments of prayer or gathering for blessing is much like the notion of “conjuring”. Instead of being used in a magical sense, the calling is not upon spirits plural but upon the Holy Spirit. 

Seek and ye shall find, ask and it shall be given unto you. When we pray we are asking God to be present in our equations and that changes the balance tipping it toward infinity.


Rev. Dr. Martha Tucker

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