God’s Presence
When like Elijah you’re surprised by sheer silence, listen to God speaking deep inside. When like Peter you’re scared by the wind on the sea, look to Jesus right there with you. When bedtime nears, stop and review how the Spirit caught you by the hand and caught you off guard with love. Hold these close to your heart and go to sleep.”
-Br. Luke Ditewig, Society of Saint John the Evangelist, www.ssje.org, August 8, 2018, “Companion- Brother Give Us a Word”
God’s promise is that God is always with us, beside us. Always. All the time. How do we feel that presence? My experience is when I am connected to the God within me, the Christ within me, when I can see the God, the Christ, in my neighbor, I am feeling God’s presence.
When we feel the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, and kindness, (Galatians 5: 22-23), we are feeling God’s presence. When suddenly we realize we were able to do something we did not think we were able to do, we are feeling God’s presence.
During difficult times, God shows up in the presence of someone who just loves us as we are. It can be a phone call, an email, a snail mail, or even a text.
It is difficult to spend any time outdoors in nature or even look outdoors to see the birds feeding near our windows without feeling the presence of something greater than yourself.
Gratitude helps us to put on new glasses so that we can see God’s presence in our lives.
Forgiving ourselves and others keeps us from putting up the barriers that keep us from seeing God in our lives.
Beauty in art, music, the sacred word, poetry, fiction and nonfiction writings open up our eyes and ears and mind to see God sitting right beside on a bench at the National Gallery or in the center orchestra section or curled up in our favorite chair.
Joanna joannaseibert.com