Although we often see life as a series of beginnings and endings; life and death, the seasons of the year, night and day, we are really in a constant state of becoming. The apostle Paul says that we were ‘chosen before the creation of the world’ Ephesians 1:4. The Psalmist says ‘You (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb’ Psalm 139:13. Our ‘seeding’ and ‘flowering’ is an intrinsic and ongoing part of God’s eternal outpouring of love. All that is required of us is an ‘awakening’ to and an acceptance of the presence of God not just in creation but in us individually and corporately.
In contemplative practice we come to stillness and silence and, in the words of Thomas Keating, “Recognise the presence and action of God and consent to it. We do not have to go anywhere; God is already with us… Faith tells us that we already have God – the divine indwelling”. From: The daily reader for contemplative living by Thomas Keating.
And so, as we stand at the ‘end’ of 2024 and the ‘beginning’ of 2025 we are simply in the eternal present moment and the eternal presence of God. And in our surrender to and growing awareness of His will we are each in a state of becoming the unique manifestation of His presence according to His eternal plan.
Closing prayer:
Lord we thank you for the gifts of life and love and fellowship; with you, each other and with all creation. And as we reflect on our lives we thank you for your grace at work in and amongst us and we echo the prayer of Dag Hammarskjold. ‘For all that has been, thanks. And for all that is to come, Yes’………Amen
Text ©K Marsh 29 December 2024. Bexhill JM
Photo©K Marsh. White quartzite stone cross, Lake District.
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