Sunday Devotion: 7 November 2021, Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday Devotions
He shall be to you a restorer of life
Written by clergy and lay people across our Diocesan community, ‘Sunday Devotions’ is a column of short reflections based on a Lectionary reading of the day, suitable for small group discussion or personal use.
Main Readings: Ruth 3.1-5; 4.3-17; Psalm 127; Hebrews 9. (19-22) 23-28; Mark 12.38-44 [1Kings 17.8-16; Psalm 146]
Supplementary Readings: Psalm 25.10-22; Mark 13.9-23; Ruth 4.7-12, 18-22; Psalm 146; Hebrews 10.1-10
“He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age.” (Ruth 4.15)
As a youngster I learnt to place all my trust in God for my health. By middle age I felt despair when I was faced with one of my life’s biggest challenges, as I discovered that I had suffered from gender dysphoria since early childhood. I could never get my head around people telling me that I was a girl when I knew I was a boy from the age of two. It is now in my retirement years that I have discovered God nourishing my life in a most wondrous and unforeseen way.
Through God’s grace, my life has been restored in my older age – in part through my transition. Previously I was surviving. Now, I feel like I am really living life for the very first time. God has always known who I am on the inside.
Because I have lived much of my life on the margins, I have had to observe and listen more than I would have otherwise. My journey has taught me that everyone has a lived life story. People who observe and listen from the periphery develop compassion for those who struggle and are able to offer unique insights.
Our God is a God of restoration and nourishment who wants us to nourish others through love and compassion.
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