But God’s Spirit will not leave us
Isaiah 59:21 “And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Have you seen The Chosen Season 5, Episode 4, where the disciples recite the traditional 14-point Dayenu (“it would have been enough”), detailing some of God’s miracles in the history of Israel?
Later in the episode, the women recite their own Dayenu, but they personalize it in a moving recital of God’s wonderful works in their own lives. This prompted me to articulate (in Spanish) some of God’s acts in my own experience, spanning seven decades, several continents, and a series of seemingly impossible situations.
I recommend trying this. It’s more than an encouraging exercise—it’s a stimulus for praise! The biggest challenge is to contain all he has done in fourteen points.
I haven’t talked with my family about this yet, but I’ve been thinking about how we might do something similar this Thanksgiving, in part to pass on to our children and grandchildren some of what God has done for Dave and me. That’s what the Jewish Dayenu tradition does: it rehearses and passes down God’s acts from generation to generation.
Shutterstock: Carlo Prearo
And God doesn’t change. When he does marvelous things in my life, it’s not just for me. It’s a revelation of his character and purposes for all who witness or hear about it. That’s true for you too, hence this blog, where I long to showcase him through YOUR “God stories.”
As Mary expressed it in her song of praise (called the Magnificat):
The Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me
He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.
What great things has God done for you?
Song of Mary by Liturgical Folk
Debra Kornfield 