from Jack Barnard
When I was in Apia, Samoa last year, I had been wandering around, looking through the market, admiring the colourful buses in the bus station. I ambled along the waterfront, and it was hot, tropical heat, the kind of heat that seems to suck all the energy out of you and makes you desperate for water. So when I came to the big white Catholic Cathedral, I sat down in a pew for a break. I discovered there was a lovely breeze blowing in from the sea, through the wide front doors, and I sat there awhile, reflecting that I could travel far from home, and still find a quiet space where I could stop and be in the presence of God.
Sitting in church pews to pray while travelling is a habit I have developed. It’s nice to sit in a quiet prayerful space and connect to God. If like me you have felt close to God at times inside church buildings, you may really be missing being able to get inside our church building, and feeling that it is hard to find God.
But it’s not only in churches that I seek to connect to God. I love to sit somewhere in the bush and pray. I can also feel close to God when I am at home and meditate by emptying my mind of all thought and waiting to see if God will speak to me.
I have a couple of questions for you. You might want to write them down to reflect on.
- Where do you feel close to God?
- Where do you think God is?
In 1 Peter 3 we read that Jesus “has gone to heaven and is at the right hand of God”. If we went on that statement alone, we might say God is just in some far-off place called heaven. God being in heaven would make it hard to talk to, and hard for God to talk to us.
But the apostle Paul apparently had a different view to Peter. Peter was talking about God the Creator and Jesus, but perhaps Paul is speaking more of God the Holy Spirit. Have a look at Acts 17 and see what you think. It’s where Paul was talking to the authorities in Athens. Paul told them “The God who made the world and everything in it doesn’t live in shrines made by human hands.” I think what he is saying is that while we might feel close to God in those spaces, God is not confined to church spaces. Paul goes on to say that God is “Not far from any one of us” “We live move and exist because of him”. Those words of Paul suggest to me: God as close as the air that we breathe, and remind me of the song “This is the air I breathe. Your holy presence living in me”.
Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “Closer is He than breathing. Nearer than hands and feet”
If God is as close as that, right there, ready to connect to us… rather than waiting until we get back into the church building, how could you take some quiet time today to listen in to God?
Maybe you will go for a walk and listen and look for God in nature.
Maybe you will listen to some spiritual music and open yourself to God while you are listening.
Maybe you will sit in silence and wait for the still small voice of God
Maybe you will read from the Bible, and notice the words and phrases that stand out for you
I sometimes think reaching for God is like tuning an old-fashioned transistor or wireless radio, where you have to very carefully manipulate the dial to get a clear signal. The signal is always transmitting. But we have not always taken the time to tune in properly.
How can you set your internal dial so that you can know God’s presence with you today?