Soul Groanings

But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. Romans 8:26 NLT

This verse pretty much sums up my prayer life.  I am not a Biblical scholar and it would not shock anyone if I pulled a verse from Romans out of context, but I think this is one of the most descriptive statements in the Bible about spiritual life. It is very, very soothing to me that I can just throw out feelings, thoughts, or essence of thoughts and feelings in a prayerful way and they will get sorted somehow by Divine power.

This is parallel, to my odd way of thinking, to when someone is trying to express something to me by handing me a favorite book.  After reading the book, my soul connects to the other on a plane that words could not capture.  My daughter brought me a book by her favorite author, Sharon Creech, called Bloomability shortly after the news broke that we would, once again, be moving.

Reading Sharon Creech novels causes me to want to write a book of my own in very strong ways. Which is probably not relevant. Her characters and settings are so charming, though. Her adolescents' views are precious reminders of an age I forget to remember with fondness.  There were no overt messages my daughter was trying to send me.  She was simply inviting me to join her in feeling a certain current swirling around her.  It swirled around me and I somehow understood something.

There were many ways I thought of writing here about moving from Syracuse, NY to Moorestown, NJ (which is really Philadelphia).  Should I talk about the anxiety of making a perfectly wonderful daughter start her sophmore year in a new place? Should I discuss how wonderful the career move is for my husband but how I have to start my career all over again? Should I share the hope that things might be better for my little one in a fabulous school district with a gifted program? Should I whine about the hassle of buying and selling houses? Should I convey anger? worry? excitement?

But in the spirit of Sharon Creech and Molly and Romans and the Holy Ghost, I am just sort of eliciting a soul groan because there is so much that cannot be expressed in words.