Learning to See God
When it comes to recognizing God's everyday work, too few of us have eyes to see.
Grayson Atha
October 1, 1984
In the candles' glow of Christmas Eve, or the celebration of Easter worship-in the midst of an anthem, or a familiar hymn, or the sermon, or when a person is baptized-then, in one or several of these moments, the Presence of God is felt or seen. It may spill over into a sunset-a prayer from one's own sickbed, or by the bed of someone you love-a burst of joy from a child, or the beauty of a first snowfall. In these events the Presence of God is often easily experienced. It is a bit more difficult to see God in the midst of a church or family squabble-to feel God when a plan is defeated-or to find God in the midst of the common, ordinary events of life. Perhaps one of the reasons a congregation has some difficulty with this is because we pastors are ambivalent in communicating the Presence of God, or even seeing it ourselves. When the children gather at the bedside of a dying parent, we really cannot burst in and proclaim, "Say, are you aware God is here!?" About the most we can do is demonstrate that Presence through waiting with them, by taking the hand of the dying person, or perhaps by singing a hymn-then, those who have ears will hear. Those whose eyes have been opened will see. We cannot assign the ears; we cannot force light into the eyes. We can only model the Presence, and then accept that we are not so wonderful or powerful that everyone will grasp and suddenly experience it. ... The following stories I share as occasions in my own ministry when the Presence was experienced in the midst of seemingly common, ordinary events of life. The Red Flower
I was walking along Montgomery Road early one Sunday last summer when I noticed a red flower on the sidewalk. Apparently, it had been pulled from the earth by an animal or human ...
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