Pastors’ Columns

Associate Pastor’s Spiritual Reflection

Coram Deo: In the presence of God

By Pastor Mia MiKyung Park, Associate Pastor

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

Thomas Merton

“Thoughts in Solitude”, (1958)

I pray that all of our Blaine Memorial community have a meaningful Lent. Each year I set a Lenten theme and this year’s theme is Coram Deo. Coram Deo means, “in the presence of God” and is an idea of Christians living in the presence of, under the authority of, and to the honor and glory of God. During this Lent, I pray to become more attentive in listening to God and I want to be more sincere and faithful in the presence of God each day. I am grateful to share that I passed the Oregon-Idaho Board of Ordained Ministry interview in February. I feel deeply appreciative and relieved. I want to express my gratitude to the village of Blaine Memorial for your continued prayer and support. It takes multiple villages to equip pastors and I want to say THANK YOU! I am preparing to present myself to the Oregon-Idaho Clergy Session in May, and I need to get 2/3 of their votes. This long path of my ordination journey has been intentional and a life-transforming experience.

Whenever I became vulnerable and discouraged, God’s grace lifted me up and guided my steps. The past seven years have been a unique wilderness and words from the Apostle Paul gave me strength and hope. The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” and Philippians 3:10-14, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I experienced Coram Deo, God’s presence, in my wilderness. I waited for God’s next move, prepared, and walked along the way with God. During this Lent, God invites me to submerge in this deep and intentional time of Coram Deo once again. I am excited that God will continue to give me hope in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and will continue to do good works in me and through me.

The memorization verse for Church School last March is 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

During Lent, we follow the footsteps of Jesus who took 40 days of intentional time of Coram Deo. I pray that we become more grateful, faithful, and joyful as we walk this Lenten journey, including Holy Week, as a faith community. May God continue to bless and guide our faith journey as we live our daily lives as Coram Deo.

Pastor Mia Park serves as the Associate Pastor of Blaine Memorial UMC.

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The Blaine Memorial UMC congregation raise hands and pray over Pastor Mia as she embarks on a week of interviews with the Oregon-Idaho Conference’s Board of Ordained Ministries – as they will determine if she will move forward with the ordination process.