Practice the Presence of God

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? I’m asked this question rather often? I don’t know how to answer, because I really don’t understand the question. I believe that Jesus is God, my Lord, and my Savior. I follow the precepts of the Church; live a sacramental life, even though I fall short too many times. I pray, but not as often or as fervently as I should. I continue to wonder, "Do I have a personal relationship with Jesus?"

My sense is that "a personal relationship with Jesus" is about experiencing some kind of dramatic emotional experience, a bolt of lightning that causes a sudden surge of faith like St. Paul on the road to Damascus. I have always believed in Jesus, being born into a Catholic home and raised in the Church. Knowing that Jesus is one with God the Father, my relationship with Jesus was based upon my image of God; and God was a police officer enforcing the laws. I didn’t want God to show up, because it would be like seeing blue lights in my rear view mirror. BUSTED! I went to Mass, prayed, and helped my neighbor out of fear that if I didn’t God would become angry, punish me or worse yet send me to Hell.

Then one day something happened. "Mommy, look at me!" shouted my son as he leaped for the monkey bars. He missed and came crashing down with the weight of his body falling on his arm breaking it. Surgery and an overnight stay at the hospital left us both traumatized. A week later I sat at Mass reliving the accident over and over in my head feeling powerless, scared, and exhausted. Then I heard the choir singing, "Be not afraid, I go before you always, come follow me and I will you rest." Immediately I knew God was speaking to me. God knew my suffering; he wasn’t blaming me; he was comforting me.

My eyes opened and my image of God changed. God wasn’t in heaven pointing a radar gun trying to catch me in wrongdoing. He was down in the trenches with me ministering to my needs. Now I see God as a loving Father; Jesus as my friend. I speak to him when I am worried or carefree, afraid or confident, miserable or happy. My personal relationship with Jesus is more than a rush of good feelings; rather it’s a commitment to connect my heart and mind to his. I listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit that may come from the outside through the people I meet, the work I do, and the nature I see. Sometimes the Spirit speaks to me from within inspiring me to conform my life to Christ. In all things I ask, "Where is God in this? What is God calling me to? How will I respond?"

God calls each of us into an intimate relationship asking us to do all things with Him. He

wants us to be aware of his presence as we make our way in the world. For this reason, God became man. When we look upon the face of Jesus, we look upon the face of God and experience God’s compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.

We tend to complicate matters by inventing rules and methods to remind ourselves to live in the presence of God. Yet it might be so simple tells us Brother Lawrence: "Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him? The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things; I possess God in as great tranquility." We become fully who God created us to be when we listen, talk, and walk continuously with God throughout our day.

There is no corner that God is not present, there no activity in which God is uninterested, and there is no inappropriate time to talk with God that he is not listening. When we love one

another, forgive one another, bear one another’s burdens; when we work to build up a just and peaceful community, we experience God’s presence in the common events of everyday life. As we learn to gradually live in God’s presence, we know God more intimately as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Day-by-day we see God’s hand in all of things and hear his voice speak to us in the silence of our hearts and minds.

God is very close to us now. We begin to think of Him, turn to him, and to love him. We never walk alone again. With confidence we answer, "Yes! I have a personal relationship with Jesus."

Journaling with Jesus

When you hear the question, "Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?" what thoughts, emotions, ideas, or images does it evoke for you?

Do you see your own life as an ongoing journey or pilgrimage? How are you growing in your relationship with Christ?

Are you aware of the guidance of the Holy Spirit on that journey?

How can you always be with God? How can you carry on a loving conversation with God?