God’s Presence in Our

Last week was busy beginning with a few days in Florence loading up a UHAUL with furnishings and driving to Mobile where we delivered it to a transitional program for homeless folks. We then had a delightful time with friends who are definitely family at a wedding and then spending time with two of our boys and more friends who are family.

In the midst of it all, the Spirit’s presence was definitely felt in our midst. God in Christ blessed reunions, unions, and life itself in an amazing way. Isn’t that the beauty of faith and life? Thomas Merton saw and felt that in a very visceral way in the following entry from his journal. (A Search for Solitude: Pursuing the Monk’s True Life, The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 3: 1952-1960)

In emptying Himself to come into the world, God has not simply kept His reality in reserve, in a safe place, and manifested a kind of shadow or symbol of Himself. He has emptied Himself and is all in Christ. Christ is not simply the tip of the little finger of the Godhead, moving in the world, easily withdrawn, never threatened, never really risking anything. God has acted and given Himself totally. He has become not only one of us but even our very selves.

Dear reader, that is both our challenge and our reward. By seeing God in all things, we experience the love of God within ourselves and with each other. As Dionne Warwick sang in the 1960’s — What the world needs now, is love sweet love. May we find and may we be that love in all that we do.