Tag Archives: presence

Being Present with Yourself

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Last week I wrote that sometimes doing nothing is actually doing something. The first step of doing something is to pause and get a lay of the land. When it comes to spirituality, we “find our bearings” when we make ourselves present and available to God. But, as I was thinking about it more, I realized that in making myself present to God I usually spend a good part of the time wrestling with myself instead of spending time with Jesus.

Pond at Russian Ridge Open Space Nature Center. #reflection #nofilter

Pond at Russian Ridge Open Space Nature Center. #reflection #nofilter

Being present is not just an outward practice. It is inward as well.

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  (1 Corinthians 2:11)

Usually we tell ourselves that we must put down, squash, and quiet whatever is going on inside of us in order to connect with God. But, God is not put out or surprised by what we think or feel. God is interested in where we are at, so in making ourselves present to God, we would do well to become present to ourselves. When we are honest with our thoughts and feelings and realize that it’s not a problem for God, we can bring it with us and allow our context to be a part of our connection with God. None of our other relationships exist in a vacuum, so neither should our relationship with God. God is a God of the living, so live life with God!

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived” —
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
(1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

Grace and peace,
Brook

Choosing to Be Present

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Sometimes doing nothing is actually doing something.

Last week I wrote about 2014 being a year of taking action. As I thought about it, I realized that the first step in taking action is to “find our bearings.” We have to know where we are in order to know where we are going. We find our bearings by referring to our relationship with other things. In a spiritual sense, we find our bearings when we make ourselves present to God.

God made the nations so they would seek him, perhaps even reach out to him and find him. In fact, God isn’t far away from any of us. In God we live, move, and exist. (Acts 17:27-28)

Cafe table with two empty chairsThe forms in which we make ourselves present to God are as unique as each individual. The important thing is that we experiment until we find a practice that helps us to connect to God and do it. We must also remember that God is always present whether we perceive it or not. Regardless of the form, we must at some point turn our focus toward God.

To be honest, this is difficult for me to do. I have a hard time being present, because I usually have a million things going through my head and countless other things going on around to distract me. It takes me a long time to get quiet. But, in conversation with friends, I know that it just takes practice. Our dear friend, Josh Pinkston, wrote about silent prayer and its challenges this week. Here is an excerpt from his article.

I practice Silent Prayer and encourage others to, not so that we can become proficient at making ourselves silent, but so that we can become greater hearers and experiencers of Christ, who is all and in all and through all. It is to unclog our external and internal ears that are filled with opinions, hurts, self-centeredness, and expectations.

Being present to God may feel like doing nothing, but it is in being still that we can know God. (Psalm 46:10)

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Peace at Advent

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While preparing this week’s newsletter I started singing Christmastime Is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas. The first verse goes like this:

Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Fun for all that children call
Their favorite time of the year

open handsAs I get older I seem to have become somewhat of a humbug. When I start thinking about the Christmas season a list of negative things immediately forms in my mind. I won’t bother you with the details, but suffice it to say, it’s a lot of mental and emotional work sorting through it all to get down to the good stuff. Sad to say, peace is one of the last things I think of when it comes to Christmas.

As I dig down deeper into the idea of peace, I realize that I’m dealing with a misconception of what peace really is. To quote J. Oswald Sanders, “Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God.” Sanders is getting at a misunderstanding that peace is primarily circumstantial and dependent upon the lack of conflict. His solution, though, is one of presence. Presence requires openness. In order to receive God’s presence, we need to let go of our need for control and open up to the reality that God’s presence brings companionship and resourcefulness. Saying yes to God means that we are not alone and that solutions to what is stressing us are made available.

Peace is the product of making space. We can make space in time, place, and relationships, and space provides avenues of potential. Making space in our schedule allows us to breathe and connect with God and people and to become agents of peace in the process. Making space in the place we live allows us to be open to relationship and provides a place to be that agent of peace. Making space is our hearts allows us to be open relationally, to be Jesus in our world, loving God by loving others.

So, back to the song “Christmastime Is Here,” peace comes when we make space to experience all the wonder and beauty that surrounds us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus with those who are close to us in proximity and in heart.

“Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” (Luke 2:14 CEB)

May you experience the favor of God’s peace as you open up to the presence of God and those who come close to you this Christmas season.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Peace from earlier this year.

Embracing Mercy, Part 2

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You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies. (Psalm 23:5)

“Bread and Wine,” Albert York, 1966

“Bread and Wine,” Albert York, 1966

The table in this passage is a table of extravagant blessing. I’ve always wondered why it is prepared in the presence of my enemies. After studying about blessing and persecution for a talk I gave a few weeks back, I realize now that the table is not for me alone. A few verses later in this Psalm it reads, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.” People who are known for their goodness and love are those who less concerned about what’s in it for them and more about who they can bless with what they themselves have been blessed with. As I see it, this table always has an extra chair and setting. When we choose to love our enemies, as Jesus taught, then the blessings of this table are all the more sweet, because it is a table where we people are loved and relationships restored.

All this reminds me of a quote I read on Twitter this week.

“I’ve found God is wanting to be known more in the person that annoys us, and less in sunsets.” @Sarcasticluther

This is never easy, and I’m sure we will find ourselves going around the mountain again and again on this one, but hopefully our company of travelers will grow with each successive trip as we learn to love God by loving others.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Presence Takes Practice

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This last Monday was Columbus Day, and I got the day off. My family and I decided to take a little drive and enjoy the day in Pacific Grove. The weather was perfect. The traffic was easy. It seemed like everything was poised to be a banner day of relaxing, reconnecting, and recreating. There was just one little problem, which had the potential of becoming something much bigger. I hadn’t prepared myself to be present with my family as we enjoyed one of our favorite places in the world.

Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, CA

Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, CA

I had believed that if I just get there, everything will be different, everything will change. I was looking for a magical fix.

Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” (Joshua 3:5)

Joshua gave this direction to the people of Israel just before they crossed the Jordan river, leaving the wilderness and entering the promised land. The “amazing thing” was that the Jordan river would temporarily stop flowing so they could cross on dry ground like they did crossing the Red Sea. Joshua wanted the people to prepare themselves for this day, dedicating themselves to the Lord, so that their expectation would be in God and that they could full experience the wonder that was about to happen.

In my lack of preparation I ended up bringing all my distractions with my, both internal and external. I could have left them behind. I could have said that I will deal with this thing or that thing later. I could have said that Facebook can wait. I could have worn clothes that were less nice so as to not worry about getting wet or sandy or dirty. And the list goes on…

My saving grace is an understanding wife. I don’t remember what she said or how she said it, but in a moment we came together and realized that the only time to experience this moment is now. Everything else can wait.

The preparation only took a moment, and the rest of the day was fantastic. The most important part of the preparation was realizing that I had to practice at being present. It’s not automatic or magical, but a deliberate choosing to focus on who I was with and the beauty of the place I was at. In the end we did find relaxation, reconnection with one another, and recreation.

Disaster narrowly averted. Lessoned learned. Thanks for listening.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Goodness

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Last Sunday at VLC we were honored to have Josh Pinkston share with us a message of a spirituality of presence. The key phrase in his talk was “The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21) Though I wholeheartedly embrace this concept, I admit it is difficult for me to envision it in my life. The main reason is that I have a hard time seeing the good in me, others, and the world around me.

I read a devotional from Richard Rohr a few days ago that addresses this difficulty.

We are not so at home with the resurrected form of things, despite a yearly springtime, healings in our bodies, the ten thousand forms of newness in every event and every life. The death side of things grabs our imagination and fascinates us as fear and negativity always do, I am sad to say. We have to be taught how to look for anything infinite, positive, or good, which for some reason is much more difficult.

We have spent centuries of philosophy trying to solve “the problem of evil,” yet I believe the much more confounding and astounding issue is “the problem of good.” How do we account for so much gratuitous and sheer goodness in this world? Tackling this problem would achieve much better results.

This is something I have been meditating on quite a bit lately, particularly on reducing blame, alienation, and separation.

Embracing goodness enables us to turn toward others instead of against or away from them, something Jesus seemed to be really good at. This will always be a work in progress, but I trust that if we take Jesus at his word and follow his example we can begin to see and connect with the kingdom of God in those around us.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing God Along the Way

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I had the pleasure of spending three days and two nights at Old Oak Ranch in the hills above Sonora, CA, for a Foursquare District Pastors’ Conference. It was a refreshing time. It is amazing what a little change of scenery can do, not to mention spending time with friends you don’t get to see often.

As I was reflecting on my time there, I was reminded of a passage in the Psalms.hiking path

I lift up my eyes to the mountains-
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:1-2)

So often we think that just doing this or that will change our life. In the first lines in the psalm above it is as if the psalmist is looking longingly to the distance for deliverance and protection. But then he remembers, “No, my help comes from God.” The rest of the psalm conveys how close God is and how lovingly God cares for us.

For me, going to the mountains was only a vehicle to remind me of God’s closeness and continual love, both in the quiet and alone moments as well as in community with others. We can experience the same thing down here in the valley. The same is true with our spiritual disciplines: prayer, reading scripture, meditating, gathering, etc. In and of themselves they only make us more disciplined people. But, if we treat them as vehicles to experience God, we will not be disappointed.

I pray that we find the expressions and disciplines that will be a pathway to experiencing God both as a community and in our personal lives.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Proximity, Part 3: Fellowship

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We need each other. In fact, we were made to need each other. From the opening passages of the Bible, “It is not good for the man to be alone,” to the Psalms, “Look at how good and pleasing it is when families live together as one!” to the letters in the New Testament “Submit to each other out of respect for Christ.” Proximity to one another is God’s intention for humanity.

I pray you find time this weekend to increase your proximity to those you love.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Make Sure You Are Hungry

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This week I came across a devotional that really touched me and seemed to continue in the same thought as my message last Sunday.* It comes from a daily email devotional by Fr. Richard Rohr. I thought it best to share it in full.

* Note: Eucharist is the same as Communion or the Lord’s Supper.

In my message last Sunday I applied my equation of Proximity + Process = Presence to Eucharist. At the Lord’s table we draw near to God (proximity), expecting to be changed through healing, forgiveness, salvation (process), and thus experience God (presence). Fr. Richard describes an aspect of how this works.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Make Sure You Are Hungry

“Christ is the bread, awaiting hunger.”  – St. Augustine

Bread and Wine by Anna Tikhomirova

Bread and Wine by Anna Tikhomirova

Eucharist is presence encountering presence-mutuality, vulnerability. There is nothing to prove, to protect, or to sell. It feels so empty, simple, and harmless, that all you can do is be present. In most of Christian history we instead tried to “understand” and explain presence. As if we could.

The Eucharist is telling us that God is the food and all we have to do is provide the hunger. Somehow we have to make sure that each day we are hungry, that there’s room inside of us for another presence. If you are filled with your own opinions, ideas, righteousness, superiority, or sufficiency, you are a world unto yourself and there is no room for “another.” Despite all our attempts to define who is worthy and who is not worthy to receive communion, our only ticket or prerequisite for coming to Eucharist is hunger. And most often sinners are much hungrier than the so-called saints.

– Fr. Richard Rohr

Embracing Process, Part 2: The Process Is The End

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Last Sunday Kim Nowlin spoke at our worship gathering here at VLC. Due to some technical difficulties, her talk did not get recorded. I believe, though, that its impact is not in any way diminished by that. I was not in the gathering to hear it, but I did ask a few people to share with me what they heard. On each occasion they quoted something that Kim referenced from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest. “What we call the process, God calls the end.” That phrase pulled up a chair and sat down in my soul like a caring loved one who won’t leave until the issue is resolved. If you couldn’t tell, I’m still in process with it.

I encourage you to read Oswald Chambers’ devotional that Kim referenced. It comes in two versions, classic and updated.

A few weeks ago I wrote about proximity and that closeness with Jesus us essential to learning from him. One of my main points was, “Closeness is not a matter of worthiness, but willingness.” I’m still working through that. If what we call process, God calls the end, then that means we need to invite Jesus into the now of our process. It’s easier said than done, especially if we are not too proud of our current process. It would feel much better to invite Jesus in at the end of the process, asking for his blessing, instead of inviting him into the process. But, that is precisely where the greatest value is found, in the one with whom we process, not in the finished product.  It is our willingness that God values, not our worthiness. “Come near to God, and he will come near to you.” (James 4:8, CEB)

My prayer is that we invite Jesus into our processes daily, for wherever he is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Process: It’s OK That Things Just Take Time