An Everyday God

Photo from Pixabay

 “God comes to us disguised as our life”  (Paula D'Arcy - writer)

I read the above quote in one of the daily meditation emails I receive, and found that it spoke to me. 

Perhaps what appeals to me about the quote is that it mirrors a core Quaker belief: there is that of God within each person.  In my ongoing spiritual journey, I have found that the essence of the divine is found in our hearts; in the world where we walk, and in the people with whom we meet.   The image of an omniscient god who resides in the kingdom of heaven is as alien to my unfolding spirituality as is the worshipping of a sacred golden calf. 

I once had an insight while in contemplative prayer which was this:  Most of the time I walk around unaware of the spirit which surrounds me, yet there are few but precious moments when I become aware that I am swimming in the deep ocean of god; that the light of the divine radiates from every atom in the cosmos like heat radiating off of a black car sitting in the midday sun.

Sometimes during meditation, my mind wonders fiercely and I catch myself struggling to “get it under control.”  And then I laugh at myself and at my futile attempt to catch a light that is already there; one that I can absorb by simply sitting back and basking in its warmth.  The God I know doesn’t hide from me.  The spirit isn’t one that withholds love until I have earned it or that comes and goes for reasons too grand for me to comprehend.  No, the spirit of god is upon me – just as it is upon each of you – just as it is upon the dust that we see drifting through the sunlight.
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God comes to us disguised as our life.  Our job, is to simply say hello.