Journey Musings

Musing is an exercise in contemplation, reflection, imaginative pondering and breathing deeply of the life that unfolds around us.  For me musing upon my journey of life is a challenging undertaking.  I do not take a step back from my routines and experiences easily.  It is often easy for me to go from one situation to another without stopping to take a deep breath or to ponder what I have just experienced.

This last week, standing in a checkout line, I found myself behind a young mother and her two year old son. The mother stepped out of the little boys range of sight and stood right behind him.  Unable to see her, the little boy called out, "Mommy, Mommy, where are you?  Mommy, where did you go?"  So I just responded, "Did your Mother disappear?" He answered me, "Where's Mommy?" "She'll be back soon," I told him.  Of course, my response didn't do much to help his ill-ease. 

Just when I wasn't sure the little guy and I could handle the uncertainty much longer, his mother stepped back into his line of sight.  "Mommy", he beamed with delight, "where were you?"  "Oh, I was right here all the time," she assured him.

How often I am like that little boy with God's presence.  Just because I think God's signs are not visible and in front of my eyes, I act as if God is not present or near.  And when dark times seem to hide God's light, I assume God's light is not present or available.

I am not one who tries to see God's handiwork in every little event and activity around me.  There are many events that I would not even dare attribute to the gracious workings of God; yet, there are moments that are "thin spaces", when the things of God and the things of life interconnect in wonder, beauty, hope and restoration. Places where the stuff that makes life worth the living and bring out the joy of living it, just slip by my gaze.

It took a two year old little boy to remind me to be open to the truth of God's presence on my journey in living.

How do you experience the presence of God on your journey?