Have you ever felt distant from a dear friend? Maybe you used to text each other every day but now it’s been weeks since you’ve heard from them. Or perhaps you used to have long, easy conversations with them over a glass of wine but now you simply exchange a quick “hello” and “how have you been” and “we need to get coffee sometime” when you happen to run into each other at the grocery store. Maybe your friendship has morphed into a pleasant but totally operational one – you know you can rely on each other and only reach out when you need something from each other. And you find yourself thinking the once vibrant relationship you had might be a thing of the past. It’s a uniquely sad feeling to pine for a close relationship that’s still a relationship, minus the “close.”
Now, imagine that the friend you felt distant from had been writing you letters, and poems, and stories, and promises, even though you hadn’t had time to catch up recently. In fact, they wrote you an entire collection of 73 books that contained hundreds of passages explaining how much they care for you, all the knowledge they want to pass on to you, and how much they want to be your dearest friend. Imagine that you might never speak to them in person again, but by reading what they’d wrote for you, you’d be able to develop the deepest friendship you could ever fathom. This my friends, is Scripture.
I have found myself feeling distant from God exactly the way I described above many times in my life. As I progress through life’s seasons and stages, a once lively friendship with Christ sometimes enters a space, or a valley, where I find myself saying “God, why can’t I hear your voice? Please, just talk to me.” And when in response I hear nothing, that valley feels utterly lonely. In that valley, I often feel like I’m talking to myself. Or worse, talking to the void. But maybe the valleys weren’t made for shouting at God and expecting to hear anything other than our own echoes. Maybe mountaintops were made for shouting. But valleys? Valleys were made for listening.
When we are “in the valley” we are granted an opportunity to receive God’s Word in a different context. Just as we hear His Word uniquely in the “mountaintop moments” of our lives, the moments when we are on fire or feel close to God, so also does the Word land differently in the valley. God has a way of using the seasons of distance like a beautiful boomerang, pulling us closer to Him when we only stop to listen. Listening is so much more than being quiet and waiting for God to speak. Listening involves seeking out God’s Word and then pondering what He is trying to convey to us.
Now, of course we should not reserve studying and listening to Scripture only for the valleys of our lives. We should have a habit of diving into Scripture at least weekly, in preparation for Mass. Better yet, we should have a habit of diving into Scripture daily if possible. Through regular devotion and dedication to actively listening to God, reading Scripture, we will come to know Him and his love for us more deeply.
Until the past few years, I hardly spent any time in Scripture at all. Other than occasionally reading the Sunday readings before Mass (mainly when I was preparing to lector) or browsing the Bible for relatable quotes, the amount of time I spent reading God’s Word was minute at best. When friends of other faiths and I would talk about the Bible, my palms would start to sweat anticipating the moment they’d bring up a prominent Bible reference and expect me to know what they were talking about. Honestly, I felt a little ashamed. As a woman who is so open about her faith, I didn’t have a great understanding or recollection of what God has spoken to us through Scripture.
Through a habit of reading the Sunday readings before Mass and most recently, listening to the Bible in a Year podcast (hosted by Fr. Mike Schmitz), I have found that God, that friend that sometimes feels distant, has so much to say to me. That even when our friendship goes through the valleys of life, He has written me a whole collection of words that somehow find me exactly when they are supposed to. And he hasn’t done this for only me – but for you too! God wants to be our dearest friend, our most trusted advisor, and the beloved of our soul. He has so much to say to you, if only you’ll take the time to listen. And no matter how many times you read his Word, new blessings will spring from it each day.
So, I invite you to ask yourself: How can I make time to listen to God’s word this week? No matter if you find yourself on a mountaintop or in a valley when you’re reading this blog, God wants to speak to your heart. He has written a whole book for you, a beautiful love letter from your dearest friend.
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.” – Psalms 119:105
Note from the Author: This blog post was originally written for Women at the Well and was published on their blog in January of 2022. Women at the Well is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and empowering Catholic women to grow in Faith + Community. Women at the Well has been such a blessing in my life. Check them out at Women at the Well to find out how you can bring Women at the Well to your parish!
