I am often amazed how I can choose not to be tied down to where I am or to the situation I am in. In the moments just before sleep, I love to go over the day and remember the beautiful moments I had in the last 24 hours. If there is something to be grateful for; I give thanks, rejoicing in God’s love and blessings. If there is something to be sorry for; I ask for forgiveness seeking healing and courage to change for the better. I am in my bed but I am also in all the places I was during the day.
At other times, I dream and imagine things getting better and people happier and places prettier. And I wonder if I am just really imagining things. Or was I really meant to remember and to dream and to imagine? Am I just engaging in some futile exercise or was I really meant to discover that my being here was not random but part of a great adventure? I am in a certain place but I am also in all the other possible places I am imagining.
I am told and I find it logical that everything in the universe started with one single particle exploding in one cataclysmic bang in primordial times. And after some billion years, I and all the other human beings are here. In that vast expanse of time and space, everything that happened just seemed to be random and purely by chance. But something or Someone tells me that even that primeval particle already had the seeds of life in it. But for the life to eventually unfold and emerge, the vastness of space and almost infinite time was needed. Imagine making a cart, a man would probably need just a shop and a few days to make one. Imagine making a car, several people working in a gigantic factory over several weeks would be necessary.
In the silence and in my aloneness, where I can make time and space fade away, I have known that I am not alone. There is a constant Presence that gently goads me to that which is good. He inspires me to seek that which is true. And He brightens my days with all things bright and beautiful. But often, I turn a deaf ear. I look with blind eyes. And I refuse to feel that Presence. How can I miss it when He is practically shouting out to me in the silence?
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?
Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived
when each of you will be scattered to his own home
and you will leave me alone.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage, I have conquered the world.”
John 16:29-33