“God Still Moves Stones” –Spiritual Reflection by Shelly Cichowlas
It was a casual conversation; some random talk about composting and Earth Day activities over the Easter Sunrise Service breakfast table. She is a person I both admire and am intrigued by. Her convictions to caring for the earth, caring for animals and love of teaching music are just a few aspects of her spirit that draws people, including me, to her.
Suddenly there was a lull in the conversation when she told me she often thinks of me. Surprised, I listened to her tell me about a sermon she heard me preach about the book entitled ‘Positivity’. She said she read the book (or listened to it on some format) and then began reading other books about positive psychology. Her life took a completely different path because of my sermon that morning two or so years ago.
It wasn’t because I had been experiencing extraordinary stressful days lately that made hearing her kind words so meaningful, or the fact that I had been anything but positive lately, it was the timing of her words and the simple fact that she could have said nothing. And it was the turn of events that followed since that reminds me how ever present God is still among us.
Having been assigned a new supervisor at work, I was having a lot of trouble navigating her managerial style and attention to detail. Although I loved the people part of my job, the paperwork was daunting and she seemed to be hyper-critical of everything I did (or rather didn’t do). The stress was coming out in ways that seemed to make me think that finding another job was the only reasonable thing to do to save my sanity – especially after spending the evening in the ER and being told my heart attack symptoms were actually stress related. In fact, I had already asked a couple of friends to let me know if they heard of any jobs that fit my skill set.
At first, I had thought that the Easter breakfast conversation was God’s way of calling me into ministry; knowing that something God had said through me had actually changed someone else’s life – wow! But what I realized was that (I believe) God was actually calling me to take a look at those words from that sermon. Was I being my most positive self lately? Not really. How was the way I was looking at my situation with my boss affecting other parts of my life? My family? My relationship with God?
Once I looked at myself through that lens, I began to rethink how I was viewing my new boss and her motives. Was she really trying to find fault with everything I was doing? Did she really want to make my life miserable, have a heart attack, or die? Once I began think that she was really trying to help me, things began to change. I began to change, and so did our working relationship. Am I the best paperwork person in the world? Probably not. But I am no longer looking for new jobs, and I am really grateful for my supervisor doing her best to help me improve.
There is one thing of which I am certain: it was one casual conversation that early Easter morning that was my very own second chance. So, I guess it’s true that God does still move stones.