Dear All of Us,
A young man I know
here in Washington
bumped into
Barack Obama
as Barack came out
of an elevator.
There was a short hello
and a friendly handshake.
The young man's reaction
to the chance encounter:
"He's got presence."
So does God,
so much so that
God
IS
PRESENCE
Our whole spiritual life
is much more than
chance encounters
with God.
Our whole spiritual life
is living evermore in
THE PRESENCE
of
God,
THE PRESENCE
that is
God.
There's a fine point here.
And it's the point
of everything.
It's the point from which
bursts forth all that is,
all existence, all being,
the point that ignited
in what we call
The Big Bang.
All that is present
is a presencing of
THE PRESENCE
It's so
dynamically good,
so infinitely good,
that we call it
Good
aka
God
Our spiritual life
is living our present
and presence, in
THE PRESENCE
OF
GOOD
That' so easy to do
that we make it difficult.
In last week's posting
I shared how
as a twenty year old
I exhausted myself,
and no doubt
gave God a chuckle,
as I contrived to
Practice
The Presence of God
24/7
The problem in that picture
was me - yet again.
I was trying to be a saint,
with the emphasis on "I"
I was attempting to control
connection with God.
That attempt distracted,
drew me away from,
where I was -
already and always
present in
THE PRESENCE
The biggest hitch
to free and full
spiritual life is
us trying to
direct and control it.
Living in
THE PRESENCE
OF
GOD
is like what
my grandson,
Ollie, is doing
very nicely thank you.
Every day he awakes
a bit more to
the presence of
his Mom and Dad.
And here's the kicker:
Ollie smiles and
reacts to their presence.
He puts his arms and legs
and head into joyous,
vigorous motion.
He gets excited about them.
He smiles.
He responds to their
words and sounds
and songs and touches
with happy movement
and the very beginnings
of words and rhythm.
That's what
real spirituality is -
awaking to the
Presence of God
with soul smiles
and reacting
with all we've got
so far in our present.
We are fully
present to God.
We are fully in the
THE PRESENCE
OF
GOD
As we awake to that
we respond, participating
in joy and gratitude.
We delight in the
companionship of
THE PRESENCE
As we get older
we delight to have God
show us around -
God present in all that is:
a good friend
a great meal
a fine book
a struggle for social justice
a scriptural insight
a comfortable chair
a shared Eucharist
a work of art
There are times
when we hurt,
when there is
chaos within/about.
It's
THE PRESENCE
of the
death and resurrection
of Jesus happening
in our present.
Easy or hard,
we don't try
to control it.
We let God set
the pace and scope.
I don't mean
to be flippant,
but as I got older,
I basically quit trying to
force focus
on the presence of God.
Well, ok, at least on
Tuesdays and Thursdays!!
I just said:
"Alright, God.
You show me, I'll look.
You speak, I'll listen.
You wait, I'll wait.
You kick into gear,
here we go."
A baby asleep in
it's mother's arms
isn't rationally conscious
of it's mother,
but it is very much
in the presence of Mom.
So. too, us busy at work,
having a good night's sleep,
dancing or singing.
Thinking isn't presence.
Being present to
whatever, however
THE PRESENCE
choses to be so
for us in the present is.
Augustine said:
"God is closer to us
than we are
to ourselves."
We do well to
prayer chew
on that one every day.
There are moments,
even seasons, of
immediacy and union
beyond thought.
Our awareness of
THE PRESENCE
is
A Cloud
of
Unknowing
in the head
and a
fullness to overflow
deepest down.
On a day to day level,
to put it in the vernacular,
we pal around with God.
It's
God-Us
present to union
- savoring supper
- catching up on the news
- caring for a sick child
- listening to Palestrina
- taking a shower
- swimming
- straightening up the garage
- going to work
- greeting the noisy neighbor
- gardening
- putting out the garbage
We don't force anything.
We pay attention to
THE PRESENCE
as God reveals GodSelf
in the creation all about.
In the years past
there have been
clarity, confusion,
pleasure, pain,
sin and straighten out,
dryness and ecstasy
for me - all sorts
of experiencing,
or missing,
THE PRESENCE
Here in the wrap up
of my presence
in time/space,
I get nervous
and jerky at times
about birthing forth.
"How bad will it hurt
me and mine?"
Yet at the deepest
I am already present
where I'm going.
It's awareness that I am
"Present and accounted for."
Brother Lawrence,
the humble monk
in the monastery kitchen,
got it and gives it:
" I have abandoned
all particular forms
of devotion,
all prayer techniques.
My only prayer practice
is attention.
I carry on a habitual,
silent, and secret
conversation with God
that fills me with
overwhelming joy."
Present to
THE PRESENCE
The best to us all
where and as we are.
For me the present
means to head out
with God
for a walk and
then a nap.
IN GOD'S
EVER PRESENT LOVE
John Frank
******
This week we had
our first ever partner
from Georgia
- the country of.
Speaking of country,
and not to crow,
but to rejoice,
that marks the
one hundredth country
from which we
have gathered here
over the past almost
five years.
On any given week we
are people from
a dozen or so homelands.
ECCE QUAM BONUM
"Behold, how good
and pleasant it is
when kindred
dwell together in unity."
Psalm 133:1
******
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
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******
Thanks for your good company.
See you next week.
******
