In the spiritual direction groups I facilitate, we discuss various books, chapter by chapter, as part of our sharing process. Sometimes I will ask group members to respond in writing to a particular passage before they come to the group. Today I selected this passage from Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor:
” I know plenty of people who find God most reliably in books, in buildings, and even in other people. I have found God in all of these places too, but the most reliable meeting place for me has always been creation.”
Because I always participate in the group’s sharing, this is what I wrote when I reflected on the very Ignatian question: Where do I reliably find God?”
Often God can reliably be found outside my open window when I sit in silence.
The palm trees abruptly dance in an unexpected breeze, and I remember how the Holy Spirit shows up: sudden, unexpected, delightedly moving me to dance.
I hear the lone male quail calling his question over and over again as he stands atop the roof’s edge of the house next door. I am reminded that God does indeed know my name, and he tries to get my attention again and again throughout the day.
The lizard on the wall doing his strange pushups reminds me that prayer takes a slowing down, a routine, a pausing in the scurrying about of my day. Sometimes I may require a warmup before I can bask in God’s presence, my face turned toward the Son.
The hummingbird resting on the twiggy limb reminds me that I cannot rely on flitting from one inspirational book to another, one favorite blog post to five more. I cannot always be sucking in information. Like the hummingbird, I need to pause, wings folded, soaking up the quiet of the day. In pause mode. In praise. In gratitude.
Where do you reliably find God in the middle of the busyness of your day?
Do you need to be more intentional about visiting this meeting place?
