Reflection
In our prayer we seek to encounter the Presence of God. We tend to think of the God who is Mystery as somewhere beyond us, a goal to be reached by our own efforts. Yet, God is always present. Our task is not to search for the God beyond but to become aware of the Mystery which sustains us, which is the unconditional gift of life and of love. God’s presence is the source of all being, of our being. That will not change no matter what we do. What can change is our awareness of that and the effect it will have on our living and our peace of heart.
Prayer
Fear not, for I am with you.
Isaiah 41:10
Action
Explore your image of God? Do you think of God as out there somewhere? What does it mean to you when you think of God as the One who holds all things in being?
Suggested Reading
God is love and if you live in love, you live in God and God lives in you.
John 4:16
For in God we live, and move, and have our being.
Acts 17:28
Today, too, humanity constructs images of God that prevent us from appreciating God’s real presence.
Pope Francis
God is not a being among other beings, but the infinite Whither that makes possible the very functioning of our human spirit.
Elizabeth A. Johnson
We cannot attain the presence of God because we’re already totally in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness.
Richard Rohr
To say “I believe in God” means that I commit myself to make God a presence in the center of my heart, in the humdrum of my days, in the dregs of my struggles. Discovering the way God works in each of those is the spiritual journey of a lifetime. It is the ultimate spiritual task. It is the quest for the Holy Grail that is buried in recesses of my own life.
Joan Chittister
The first duty of love is to listen.
Paul Tillich
Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, God loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. … God loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that God should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at God’s love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.
Brennan Manning
People see God every day, they just don’t recognize him.
Pearl Bailey
God is an unutterable sigh, planted in the depths of the soul.
Jean Paul Richter