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Standing in the presence of God
We welcome Kerri Leigh Power to the A Nun’s Life blog today as our guest blogger for today. What strikes you as you reflect on these words?
Years ago, when I was at a crossroads with my career and unsure where to go next, I read the classic book What Colour is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles. I went through all the exercises — wrote inventories of my skills, prioritized my interests, drew circles to see where it all intersected.
I stared at the lists and diagrams till they gave me a headache, trying to discern my next steps as though reading a mysterious rune. While at the time it gave me some needed focus, it’s all a blur now.
But one part of the book has stayed with me over the years. It was a line in the epilogue, where Nelson Bolles made what he called “some random comments about your first mission in life.” There he declared that our shared mission was “to stand hour by hour in the conscious presence of God.”
I was in my twenties, and I had never heard those words before or anything like them. They rolled over me like waves — “hour… by… hour” in the “presence… of… God.”
It’s amazing how a few words that we read or hear can speak to something within us that has slumbered for a lifetime, waiting for that gentle touch, that invitation to awaken.
I felt instinctively that the man who wrote those words had a relationship with God that permeated every aspect of his life. And I wanted to know — what was it to stand in the presence of God? What was it to be immersed in it, imbued with it, like a flower absorbing particles of light from the Sun?
My fledgling faith has taken a long time to develop. Now, ten years later, I find myself at a similar crossroads (life itself seems to come in repeating waves.) And I know that I don’t want God to be an epilogue in my story. I want God to be the main event.
But like career planning, it’s something I need to think about over and over again. I still ask myself most days — how can I stand hour by hour in the presence of God? I forget God so easily, at the first sign of pain or unhappiness. I forget to ask for help. I forget to pray.
And then, in a moment of grace, I remember, and it’s as if by simply remembering, a space opens up and I again feel imbued with the possibility of light. Maybe for now, remembering is enough.
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“And then, in a moment of grace, I remember, and it’s as if by simply remembering, a space opens up and I again feel imbued with the possibility of light. Maybe for now, remembering is enough.”
I especially like that last sentence. Moments of grace pass so very quickly that its as if we need a net to catch them! I do try to think of that “standing in the presence of God” as I go through my day, and it is so easy to get wrapped up and forget. Thanks for your blog today. It came at the right time!
Thanks Kbart! It is hard to pay attention. Maybe we need nets like dreamcatchers except to catch those moments of grace.
“Nets like dreamcatchers” – what a great image. Love this blog, Kerri – it’s so rich in nuggets to keep and ponder (to mix a metaphor). I love the idea of not wanting God to be an epilogue in one’s life, but the main event. In point of fact, God *is* the main event. And I don’t want to miss the main event of my own life by not “being there” for it/God.
What a great post! I can really relate to “how a few words that we read or hear can speak to something within us that has slumbered for a lifetime, waiting for that gentle touch, that invitation to awaken.” The words can come from anyone and in any place – a book, a TV show, an article. But when you hear them, you know through your whole being that they are an experience of grace.
“Know through your whole being….” Yes, like striking a resonant frequency, your whole being experiences the grace. Yes.