Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. John 14:19 NIV
Realizing God is dwelling within and among us doesn’t happen automatically. If you are like me, I am too distracted. My mind rushes ahead to what is next or returns to the past, rarely remaining attentive to the now. Unless I am intentional and open to the present moment, I miss that “earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God,” as Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote.
Sometimes I begin my daily walks with a prayer that I may notice whatever God wants me to see. One day the flowers growing on weeds caught my attention. I picked one and noticed its beauty, the shades of its color and shape. I wondered in amazement at the Artist who would take such detailed care in a flower that remains largely ignored. Another day I was drawn to a green pinecone. I held the prickly cone gingerly. Walking with it in my hand, I thought about my own need for smoother edges. Once a neighbor caught up to me. As we walked together, she wept from the sorrow of her husband’s illness. These walks, she said, restore her from long nights and constant care. I listened, felt her pain, we prayed. I wondered at the beauty of sacrificial love and its exquisite expression in my friend.
No matter how ordinary any given moment is, God is present. Noticing, attending, and wondering opens us to the transcendent no matter how nuanced it appears. We will see God here sustaining, embracing us, and all the while holding the universe together.
Prayer: Jesus help me notice, attend, and wonder at your presence no matter how nuanced it appears. I want to celebrate that in you I live and move and have my being. Amen.
By Carmen Fleming
GCI-US Home Church, Orlando, FL, US
Thanks Carmen for reminding us to Look to the Creator as we now live in His Creation, being one of His creatures, but unlike a flower that fades away and can not praise its Creator we have been exalted Thru Jesus, to be in a relationship with Him to know His Love that will nourish us for all Eternity and Give us Life!
So very good. Thank you.
Carmen,
Thanks for this contribution. Recently, I have spent considerable time counting the blessings received. The list is too long to share. We have such a generous God.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.—James 1:17 (ESV)
Such a great and wonderful way to start a day or walk with that prayer! Even the smallest things in nature are truly amazing if we take the time to look! Thank you for reminding us to be open to Gods present and to the wonder in the ordinary things around us!