11th July 2023

Noticing, attending, and wondering

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
John 14:19 (NIV)

Realising God is dwelling within and among us doesn’t happen automatically. If you are like me, I am too distracted. My mind rushes ahead to what is next or returns to the past, rarely remaining attentive to the now. Unless I am intentional and open to the present moment, I miss that ‘earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God,’ as Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote.

Sometimes I begin my daily walks with a prayer that I may notice whatever God wants me to see. One day the flowers growing on weeds caught my attention. I picked one and noticed its beauty, the shades of its colour and shape. I wondered in amazement at the Artist who would take such detailed care in a flower that remains largely ignored. Another day I was drawn to a green pinecone. I held the prickly cone gingerly. Walking with it in my hand, I thought about my own need for smoother edges. Once a neighbour caught up to me. As we walked together, she wept from the sorrow of her husband’s illness. These walks, she said, restore her from long nights and constant care. I listened, felt her pain, and we prayed. I wondered at the beauty of sacrificial love and its exquisite expression in my friend.

No matter how ordinary any given moment is, God is present. Noticing, attending, and wondering opens us to the transcendent no matter how nuanced it appears. We will see God here sustaining, embracing us, and all the while holding the universe together.

Prayer
Jesus help me notice, attend, and wonder at your presence no matter how nuanced it appears. I want to celebrate that in you I live and move and have my being. In your name, Amen.

Study by Carmen Fleming

About the writer:
Carmen Fleming attends Grace Communion International, Home Church, Orlando, Florida, USA.

Local congregation:
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