God's Presence In Our Lives? Pay Attention Now

Several weeks ago, God blessed me with the opportunity to hear Deacon John McMullen deliver his first-ever homily. In it, he said something that inspired me to write what follows.

As way of setting up one of his final points, Deacon McMullen said, “We all know someone who says they just don’t feel God’s presence in their lives.”

Think about that for a minute. Don’t you know someone who feels that way? Are you someone who feels that way?

Stop it, right now; all of you. If you think that way long enough – say those words often enough, even if only to yourself – you are going to start believing that God is not present in your life. Nurturing that belief will lead to all kinds of not-so-good things.

Here’s some homework – complete this exercise any time you don’t feel God’s presence in your life.

Take a few minutes right now – yes, now; put this column down after you read to the end of this sentence – and think about exactly where you are in your life (i.e. your job, your family, your hobbies, your prayer life, your friends, your relative wealth, your challenges, your opportunities).

If you haven’t taken enough time to really have a good, clear picture of exactly where you are in your life, spend more time now. You don’t necessarily have to like where you are; just acknowledge it.

Got it? Are you there?

OK; now think about every event in your life that led you to this moment. Think about the triumphs and the defeats. The loves … and loves lost. Think about the blessings, including those you bestowed on others through acts large and small.

Maybe you should break it down between your professional life and your personal life. Think about the path you followed to get to the job you have now. Then think about the path you followed to get to the place in your personal life that you are now.

Along each route, events of one form or another will make themselves obvious as having played pivotal roles in where you are.

From here, those events represent God’s presence in your life every step of the way. I dare say many of us often confuse not feeling God’s presence in our lives with not recognizing God’s presence in our lives.

Recent example – a trip I had to make from the Catholic Center on the north side of Evansville to the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store just east of downtown. I left the office and headed a bit north, then turned east toward U.S. 41. I was going to take 41 to Walnut Street and make a right; the thrift store is less than a half-mile out Walnut from 41.

Rounding the curve where North Kentucky Road turns into St. George, I said something not so nice; there was a train barely moving in the crossing just before the traffic light at 41.

“Oh well,” I said out loud as I began to turn the truck around. “Guess I’m going down Stringtown Road instead.” It had been more than a month since I traveled the route I chose because of that slow train – so I hadn’t seen the little white home with the “For Rent” sign in the yard.

The landlord told me the sign had gone up a week earlier, and that I was the first person to call about it. The place was perfect; I rented it on the spot, and moved into my new home less than two weeks later.

Coincidences … that I picked that time to go downtown, that the train was there, that I decided to take a route I hadn’t used in weeks, that I ended up finding the home God intended for me to have?

No.

All of it reaffirmed – to me, at least – that God is present in our lives all the time.

We just have to pay attention and notice, so we can thank Him early and often.

Stay faithful, my friends.