Visiting with the pastor

Barbara M. Vining

The guidance counselor in my college dorm had given me a key to her room and said I could spend as much time by myself there that evening as needed—just leave the key on the night stand.

There was a Bible on the night stand. So there I was— alone with my problem and a Bible. The Bible was available to give me spiritual guidance if I wanted it. I accepted the invitation, flopped down on the bed, took the book in my hands, opened it, and began to read. I remember reading from the book of Psalms, perhaps from the ninety-first Psalm, which begins, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." It wasn't long before the Bible led me straight into an awareness within myself of God's loving presence and care. And with that spiritual awareness, I was able to think clearly about my difficulty and to feel assured that it could and would be harmoniously resolved.

The inspiration stayed with me back in my own room, even though my trouble was with the living habits of my roommate. A happy solution came within a few days: my roommate decided she would enjoy having a single room, and I was given the opportunity to move in with a student whose roommate had left school. My new roommate's standards and tastes were more in harmony with my own. We got along famously.

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