Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in-docs,
Welcoming you to Towards the Light,
An Advent Journey.
And today,
Day 15,
We're going to talk a little bit about receiving God's presence.
As we've said previously,
In the busyness of life,
It's so easy to overlook God's presence.
Our minds jump ahead to the next task,
Or we're busy replaying conversations from the day that's just gone,
Or even the day before,
Or even conversations we've had years ago,
In all the noise and distraction,
We miss the quiet whisper of God saying,
Hey,
I'm here.
Advent invites us and gives us reason to slow down,
To pause,
And to be fully present so we can receive the gift of Emmanuel,
God with us.
Psalm 4610 famously reminds us to be still and know that I am God.
That word that's been translated still in English is the Hebrew word rafah,
But the meaning of rafah goes much deeper than our English word still.
Now,
While the essence of the word is to be still or even to relax or go limp,
There's also a sense in the word of sinking or falling,
And even further,
Doing so,
Sinking or falling,
Helplessly.
Our tendency in life is to fight.
So when the proverbial stuff of life hits the fan,
We cling and hold on for all our strength,
But our strength sometimes doesn't cut it,
And the only way to find peace is to stop,
Let go,
And allow ourselves to humbly fall into the hands of God.
And it's in this stillness,
This surrender,
Not striving,
That we come to experience God's presence.
Again,
Think of Mary in Luke 10,
Sitting at Jesus' feet,
Listening to his words while Martha was busy and distracted.
Mary chose to be still,
To prioritise the moment and receive what Jesus had to offer.
Advent asks us to do the same,
To stop,
To notice and give space to what God might have to offer us in this season.
Brother Lawrence,
The famous monk whose life is central to that book,
The Practice of the Presence of God,
His life revolved around noticing God in the ordinary and wrote that the presence of God isn't something we chase,
It's something that we awaken to.
God is already here,
Everywhere,
And it's not something we chase.
God is present in every moment,
That's true,
But God's waiting for us to notice.
To receive,
We must be mindful and create space,
And that often starts with stillness and silence.
I wonder,
How might you make room for God's presence today?
Maybe it's setting aside a few minutes after this audio event to simply sit quietly.
Maybe it's pausing in the middle of the day,
Letting go of distractions and just taking a deep breath.
Receiving God isn't about achieving,
Friend,
It's about opening.
So may you find stillness in the midst of even the busiest of your days.
May you awaken to the quiet ways God is present in your life.
May you,
Like Mary,
Find time and space to sit at the feet of Christ and simply listen.
May your heart be open to receive the fullness of God's love and presence.
May today be a day where in the silence,
You let your heart settle and simply say,
Here I am,
Lord.
Let that moment of stillness remind you that God is near,
Always waiting to meet you in the ordinary.
Be still and know that I am God.
And may the fullness of God's grace be with you today.
And may the fullness of God's grace,
Peace and love meet you there today and every day.
Amen.
Peace be with you,
Friends.
I'll see you tomorrow.
