Cynthia Bourgeault, in her book titled "Mystical Hope", describes the importance of learning to be present to our lives in order to be available to the Presence of God:
"The spiritual life can only be lived in the present moment, in the now. ... When we go rushing ahead into the future, or sinking back into the past, we miss the hand of God, which can only touch us in the now." She goes on to describe "the immensity of the love that seeks to meet us at the crossroads of the Now, when we yield ourselves entirely into it."
As we learn to become present and open to everything that arises in the now, even difficult or painful experiences, we start to discover an intimacy with God that is much deeper and closer to us in every moment than we ever imagined possible. Bourgeault describes this as a "protecting nearness" which, when we have experienced it, becomes a true source of hope and freedom, because you come to know "your absolute belonging and place in the heart of God, and that you are a part of this heart forever and cannot possibly fall out of it, no matter what may happen."
The invitation to us is to learn to become present, open and surrendered to this Presence, who holds us and loves us in every moment, this God "in whom all things hold together" (Col 1:17).
In the quiet curve of evening,
in the sinking of the days,
in the silky void of darkness, you are there.
In the lapses of my breathing,
in the space between my ways,
in the crater carved by sadness, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.
In the rests between the phrases,
in the cracks between the stars,
in the gaps between the meaning, you are there.
In the melting down of endings,
in the cooling of the sun,
in the solstice of the winter, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.
In the mystery of my hungers,
in the silence of my rooms,
in the cloud of my unknowing, you are there.
In the empty cave of grieving,
in the desert of my dreams,
in the tunnel of my sorrow, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.
~ Julie Howard