Several years ago I had the opportunity to tour a monastary in Southern Indiana. As we were on the tour we entered the sanctuary of the main church and the brother leading the tour called our attention to the mural of Christ at the far end of the sanctuary. He gave us a little information about the giant mural, the artist had come from Europe and spent several weeks completing the painting. It stood about 20 feet high, it was massive. Then he made a statement about the painting: "When one looks at the painting from this distance (we were at the farthest point from the mural we could be and still be in the church) the Christ seems rather cold and harsh, the colors look dark and unfriendly, but as you get closer to the mural you will notice the colors will brighten and the friendlier and warmer the Christ appears. The same is true with our life when one is far away from God; God seems cold and harsh, but as one gets closer to God the warmer and friendlier God appears to ones life.
With that story in mind if you were to rate your closeness to God on a scale between 1 and 10 with 1 being far away and 10 very close how would you rate relationship with God?What would cause your relationship to grow closer? What are some of the things which would cause you to move further away from God?
Let me know what you think

One of my goals for the near future is to make better contact with youth of my congregation. I have reactivated this blogspot with the hope of engaging in a spiritual conversation with the youth of Good Shepherd, and any other interested party which includes other church members and other youth or adults. Every week or so I plan to ask a question or make a statement of a spiritual nature with the hope it will generate some thoughts or ideas concerning your own spiritual life. It is my hope to then respond to each person and carry on a spiritual dialogue with the aim of helping you to grow in your faith. I will also take time to answer the question I ask because I don't believe it is fair to ask a question of someone and don't take the time to answer it myself.
With this in mind this weeks question: Who has had the most impact on your spiritual life?

I can think of several people who have had a major impact on my spiritual life. Early in my life my grandmother was very influential because I used to attend church with her and even when I was in college I would spend a lot of time talking with her and about spiritual issues. I always felt she would listen and not give me advice but was always encouraging me in my pursuit of education and going into ministry. My home pastor also gave me a great deal of direction and encoragement as I grew in the Christian faith. His door was always open when I wanted to discuss an issue I was struggling with at the time. In addition I have always been impacted by people in each Church I have served. I have had people who spent time praying for my ministry and were very behind the scenes people but they way they quietly lived out their faith has always had a big impact on my life. Finally there are my family members especially my wife and daughters and sons in law. In their own unique way each of them has challenged me in my journey of faith. Take time to let me know what you think about the question.