Presence: Experiencing the Nearness of God

I missed a couple of days recording as I was sick with a bad cold. This time allows me to experience God as the Broken One who is near when we struggle and fall ill.

I am touched with gratitude and nostalgia as I hear my teen son singing in the shower.

I enjoy faith and fellowship Sunday evening and feel and hear God singing to me when I listen to a friend singing Bib Dylan's song "To Make You Feel My Love"

I have two very different parts of my day - chill in the morning and early afternoon and much hustling at the winery in the evening as it got so busy that a regular customer helped me out!

I have the day off of school but need to wait for my son during a long appointment. I work in the morning in the library and the afternoon in a coffee shop.

I write and pray a prayer today for the six types of live identified by the Ancient Greeks. And after experiencing love of my school after watching a fun competition and then having a special moment with my teen daughter, I wonder if there are even more kinds of love for which we need new words.

My school community hears from a father who lost his daughter in a car crash caused by distracted driving. My students and I take The Maria's Message Pledge to not drive with manual, visual and/or cognitive distraction.

I go back and listen to the episodes I recorded one year ago this week and am struck by my thoughts and feelings right after the Parkland school shooting. I experience God in the remembering of those horrible days.

My classes and I pray a prayer that I wrote to ask God to guide our leaders in compromising so the government doesn't show down again on Saturday.

I hear the gospel about Jesus calling the apostles by telling the fishermen to go out into deeper water. And after worship, I have two chances myself to go deep.

I lead my In The Know players to a special tourney which uses questions about all aspects of popular culture. Listen and hear the wide range of topics covered!

I stay up late enjoying the simple pleasure of reading a good novel. Do I finish it before I fall asleep? Listen and find out!

I feel uplifted and inspired every time I pray with the words of Fr. Edward Hayes and his "Prayers For a Planetary Pilgrim" Check him out at www.edhayes.com

I play the hero and retrieve a student's keyboard from a big puddle. And I learn something very important about my great new travel mug.

I listen to Bon Iver's "22, A Million" album and how it is an expression of modern mysticism and a vehicle for mysticism.

After school I stick around for a while and have a spirited and enjoyable political conversation with a Colleague/Friend

I get out for a Sunday stroll in a suddenly warm afternoon which reminds me of the changing climate and the need to care for Gods creation.

I watch the Cardiff City FC (in the English Premier League) team and fans honor the 28 year old new player - Emiliano Sala - who died very recently in the crash of a small plane flying from France to Wales where he was joining his new team and community. 🇬🇧

On my third school day off in a row I delight in reading about and pondering "Simple Pleasures" from a book of the same name.

I needed a spiritual boost so I listed to The Living Presence Podcast from LivingPresenceMinistry. Org. It was just what needed to experience God's Presence on my drive home.

Conditions come together just right for an amazing time at the winery where I work. Six of us pray the Compline in the Divine Office together with others via technology.

Normally school isn't canceled for a "calamity day" until 5 am the morning of. But with the dangerous polar vortex coming the following day of school was canceled by noon time. 🤯

I am teaching about both Big History and the Genesis creation stories to my students. A sentence from the book (in this episode title) "How to Love the Universe" by Stefan Klein helps me to experience awe and wonder in the Presence of God.

I go with some colleagues to hear one of our students preach in her church. Listen to episode #266 to hear about the first time I witnessed her preaching.

I go to my local library and am surprised to see my brother-in-law there. I reflect on how I am living in a time of my life with "roots" when before I also lived with "wings" instead.