Sun. Jan. 29 (Connie Siedler)

Connie Siedler (former resident of the Menno Simons Centre and theology student at Regent) spoke on the woman healed of bleeding (Mark 5). Over a period of 12 years, she has spent all her resources seeking healing. During that time, she had been forced to undergo interminable waiting, and a 'winter' emotionally. However, waiting is not passive, it is actually an activity. It may appear to others that little is happening, but a lot can be happening inside as we learn to face difficulties and even inner darkness. Although God may seem distant, God is always present. Scripture cites many individuals forced to wait: Job, Abraham and Sarah, David (anointed years before being acclaimed king). The Old Testament lectionary text told of Hannah (1 Samuel 1) suffering inner anguish, a 'winter of her soul', as she waited. 'Winter' is a time of waiting. Even so, winter offers gifts to us. We can get to know who we are as we face difficulties in ourselves in new ways, and we may discover that faith grows best in winter, even in seasons of pain. Every winter has the promise of spring. [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, January 29th, 2012 using your browser's preferred media player.