The One Present

When I walk across the farm, I do not see them, but I do see signs that they have been here.  The most dominant part of this land is the old wood farm house which was built in the early years of the 20th century.  For over a hundred years now it has either been a framework for living, or a storehouse of the stories of those who did the living.  In the house meals were cooked, weary bodies rested, children were conceived, and hopes and dreams were given birth.  The people who walked this land before me are long gone, but signs abound all around which speak of their presence.  Sometimes it seems that more than just memories linger in the air.     

And while I do not see Him, I know He has been present with all those who have been here before me and that even now His Spirit continues to make Himself known in all the things which touch my life.  There has not been a day that I have worked and walked this land that Holy Presence has not been present alongside.   In the beginning that presence seemed invisible, but the more I saw of the things which speak of His presence, the more I began to realize I was not alone.   

This unfolding and growing awareness of Holy Presence has brought changes in the way God is understood and experienced.  It has made the spiritual discipline of prayer into something which is shaped not by a schedule, but by the awareness that the Holy One is as present as the creation around me.  And while I am unable to see what and Who is and always has been invisible, every now and again I find myself taking a second look as one who expects to see what is surely present and visible.