The month of February is set aside to reflect on the many Black leaders who have shaped United States history, and who are often unjustly skimmed over in our classrooms.

We are about to go to our friends’ house to watch the Super Bowl. There are a few things I want to tell you.

“What are you reading?” the boy asked, pointing at the pictures in my book. My graphic novel wasn’t toddler appropriate, so I replied, “It’s about superheroes!” “Wow,” he whispered, reverently. His mother, sitting next to him on the train, gently prodded, “You like superheroes!” He nodded vigorously.

I was feeling a little stuck. You’ve been a Christian your whole life, I told myself in a mini pep talk. You should know how to have a meaningful quiet time, a deep prayer life, a correct perception of God. But the truth was, the practices that had been helpful in the past no longer were.

You can hear from God. I bet no one’s ever sat you down and explicitly (and bravely) said that out loud, to your face, because no one wants to look bad if you take a risk to listen for God’s voice and then don’t hear anything. 

In January at our blog, we’ve been looking at spiritual practices that can open us to the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work in our lives.