If you live in my presence

1Kings 9:4 As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgements…

Okay, first God appeared to Solomon a second time. Wow! Twice! I can’t say God has appeared to me even once, so that in itself is just remarkable, blows me away. What is it like to have God appear to you? It must be terribly frightening, as well as so exciting and affirming, definitely a peak experience. That of course is something God does in your life, and you have no control over it, who he appears to and who not. It’s not something I expect to happen to me.

But this idea of living in God’s presence, that is something I do try to do. It is the focus of these devotions, of my reading and meditation, and various other activities which I would call “contemplative”. It is the process and intent of the contemplative life, to live in God’s presence. Brother Lawrence calls it “Practicing the Presence of God” and its possibilities are available to me every moment of every day. And what does that require of me? A slowing down. An intentional awareness. I need to stop, breathe and pay attention. Step out of the mind’s incessant chatter to feel the air on my cheek, notice what is around me, right within my grasp. In those moments of stopping and noticing, of stillness and paying attention, I can see God’s presence in the wonder and beauty of creation, experience it in the simplest things, my breath. In those moments, God is my breath, moving in and out of me, sustaining me, giving me life. When I pray, when I meditate, when I read the Bible and reflect on its meaning for my life, when I call on the Holy Spirit to speak to me through scripture, or writing an icon, or through interactions with groups I belong to at my church, I also feel this connection. Something shifts in me. I move from anxiety to calm, from agitation to peace, from worry to equanimity. That I guess is the surest proof I have of God’s presence in my life.

Prayer: Dear God, Remind me to take the time to be still for your presence. Help me to resist distractions, so that I may rest intentionally, unapologetically and wholeheartedly in your peace. Amen