Category Archives: God’s presence

     Many of us know what it is like to feel trapped in darkness. My story started in pitch black, without my knowledge, without choice. I set out on a journey to discover the light, and in so doing, paved a way that exposed me to the deep love that God lavishes on all of us. Finding my way out of the pit of blackness is a long and hard-fought process. I continue to rely on the One who continuously saves me from the horrors of the past. The power displayed to me begins with Divine guidance, always reassuring me that together, we can make the journey to the beauty of the light.

     On this Advent day, I am grateful for the journey through the roughest of circumstances. I learned more about myself as I struggle through uncharted waters than if I would have immediately discovered the end of the path. It took walking with the Holy One to find the depth of my faith and the boldness of my own heart to follow the Creator. The road is not easy, and there are some detours we must take to learn all that we need to know, but it is worth every struggle to grow in faith.

     My prayer for everyone who reads this blog post is that God’s love continues to journey with you. I hope that all of you struggle well, and as you do, may Divine arms keep you safe. The darkness can be a fierce competitor, but nothing can overwhelm the light of true love. Be filled with the presence of the Divine and let it illuminate your path. Continue to grow as you journey well with God himself beside you every inch of the way.

     I have a fierce enemy that seems never to surrender the fight for my soul. It rages fiercely against me and can throw mean into a chaos born in darkness with one swift blow. I cannot fight this lover of humiliation alone, so I depend on an advocate that makes the enemy’s power dwindled in comparison to itself pristine lighted beauty. Once exposed to the light, the enemy must retreat and wait until another day to launch an all-out assault.

     The enemy of which I speak is me. I am my own worst enemy. I know where to strike and hit with 100% accuracy. My heart lay bare to the one that strikes with such cruelty and heartless integrity. The only way I know to survive is to retreat into any foxhole that I find until the war ceases. There appears no way to fight back as shame overwhelms me and leaves me paralyzed with fear. I lay in the darkness, praying that someone will discover me and bring me from torture.

     Advent reminds me that the light came into the world, and in doing so, released me from myself. My enemy’s voice has no power over me as I rediscover the One who created beauty out of chaos. My challenge is to refuse to let the power of my most prominent critic overwhelm me back into darkness. It is an impressive trick, but each day closer to Christmas, there is a little more hope in the world. We maneuver life by reminding ourselves that we are God’s children, and as such, our most significant power-hungry phantom has a smaller amount of hold on us. Celebrate, give thanks for God, who leads us out of the night and into the hope of morning.

“Where could I go to get away from your spirit? Where could I go to escape your presence? If I went up to heaven, you would be there. If I went down to the grave, you would be there too!” (Ps. 139:7-8 CSB).

     We cannot rise above the darkness because we feel so empty and ashamed of our lives. Worry, fear, shame, they all separate us from the light. These forces of darkness swallow us whole and leave us without hope. Despair reigns supreme, and we find ourselves buried in a sea of destruction. Our souls become crushed ice pellets that lack warmth or security.

     Hear the Good News, my friends. Our God moves into the chaos of the darkness and searches for us. The Divine goes to any lengths to find us, even going to the grave to pull us back to the light. So great is the love of our Lord that nothing keeps holy arms from gathering us up and restoring us to wholeness. We discover fearless love in the most desolate of circumstances.

     This passage from the Book of Psalms is a favorite of mine, as it reminds me of God’s unfailing love offered to all people. On this day of Advent, let us remember the great lengths the Holy One goes to for us. Never will we remain in darkness because we are sons and daughters of the Divine. Restoration is a promise freely given to us through grace. Let us claim the gift given and live in the light of God.

     I am often guilty of saying a flippant response and moving to the next person standing to speak with me. We know this year is vastly different from years past, but that does not excuse us from genuinely expressing sentiments of good cheer. Everyone could use a little joy in their lives, especially now. I think of the many children in the Special Pediatric Unit on the University of New Mexico Hospital’s sixth floor. We know what it is like to search for reasons to celebrate while sitting in a hospital room during the holidays.

     To those who feel the darkness that surrounds them each day, I wish you wholeness. I am not talking about anything that depends on tangible things to satisfy the message of hope. I speak of an inward calm that rises above the pain that we feel or an inward commitment to higher ideas regarding life and each actual situation. I mean a feeling of satisfaction deep within our bones that steadies us and gives lasting peace in all circumstances. At the core of our inmost being, may God’s light shine.

     On this third Monday of Advent, may we not get so caught up in our joy, making that we forget those who struggle. Let us remember, God came into the world to lead us all. Let us not boast so loudly that we fail to see our brothers and sisters who lay beside the road. Hopefully, we can stop and be the hands and feet of Christ by caring for those who need our help.    

     I found myself fascinated with Isaiah’s proclamation that the spirit of the Lord came upon him. In the prophet language, God shared with him a special message. He announced, “The Lord God’s spirit is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release for captives, and liberation for prisoners” (Is. 61:1 CEB). His calling to speak came directly from the Divine, and his message contained truths about healing and wholeness. Though written long before the New Testament, Isaiah’s message emphasized a gospel (good news) of hope.

     It looks like the prophet receives a herculean task to reach everyone that he could with the holy message of deliverance on the surface. I do not think that his call is any different than ours. The Divine calls us to action, to share the hope found in Jesus, the Christ. How do we reach the ones mentioned in the passage from Isaiah? Anytime we live our faith, we deliver the good news to whom we encounter.

     We are present-day Isaiahs, sharing the story of the Holy One in our little corner of the universe. Our calling is the same as the ancient man of God. We share the love of Christ with everyone, speak peace into lives that are in chaos, and liberation to all who need to be set free. Our voices continue Isaiah’s legacy, which reaches across time and into the heart of the modern world.

     In past years, this is crunch time for me. I make mad dashes to the mall to pick up last-minute gifts, prepare worship services for Christmas Eve, and visit shut-ins. I learned to navigate the craziness of the season by finding joy in all my busy-ness. There is a rush of adrenaline rushing to get the perfect gift for different people. My immediacy matched by everyone else as fellow shoppers unite with the same goal in mind. I find a sense of purpose and ritual in the madness of the holiday season.

     This year is vastly different. Like many others, I bought most of my presents online as in-person shopping is frowned upon due to the risk of acquiring the dreaded Covid-19 virus. Gone are the rituals that in some strange way brought meaning to this particular time of the year. Planning for worship is not the same as preparing to provide meaningful virtual services and parking lot services. My soul cries out that it wants the moment on Christmas Eve when the congregation raises candles to the skies as we sing “Silent Night, Holy Night.” There is something spectacular to see from a pastor’s view the families that stand together, filling the air with beautiful harmonies. For a moment, there is a sacred space of incredible peace. The holiness of the light in a dark room captures the splendor of the season.

     This year, we will not share in the same space the hope and mystery of the holiday. Should that prevent us from discovering other ways of providing sacred space? I think not. The good is that the darkness gives way to the light, even in the strangest of circumstances. Perhaps we can establish new ways of maintaining our traditions. We could light candles with our immediate family and take in the beauty of the light. Remember, Christ’s light shines in us everywhere we go. This year offers us a new challenge to express our faith to those closest to us. Maybe the ones that we hold most dear may need to hear the message from our mouths directly. Tell them, the light came into the world, and in so doing, offered us a way to shine in every circumstance. On this day, I wish you a joyful end to the second week of Advent.

     One of the great premises of Buddhist philosophy is the idea of giving up our attachment to things. By emptying ourselves of ways that we hold on to items, we can fill the new spaces with a higher consciousness. In our Christian world, we practice the principle in a similar yet different way. Christian emptying moves us to get read of an attachment to everything that keeps us from worshipping God. In other words, I must disassociate myself from people, places, and things that prevent me from living in wholeness.

     I am not talking about waking up one morning and cleaning the house. I suggest a fearless and moral inventory of our attachment to the things that stand in the way of freedom to pursue the Most-High God. For instance, my inability to forgive a person does damage to me. To grow in my faith, I must let go and let God do the holy work in my spirit.    

     In a moment of true confession, I admit that there are people with whom I struggle to practice the art of forgiveness. They did way too much damage in my life, and I get angry at the thought of their name. My faith encourages me to continue to work until I reach a time when willingness speaks louder than anger, and surrender to the Divine overcomes the negative repercussions of resentment. The reality of the unconditional release of bitterness marks the moment of real transformation.

     In this moment of Advent, let us reflect on our attachments to things that keep us separated from God. Let us pray for the willingness to surrender them and move forward on our journey. Let us grow in our faith until we mirror the image of Christ. In our moments of most profound hurt, when we feel the need to move from darkness to light, the real crying out of the Advent season rings true as we plead, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

     We live in a dualistic society that assumes many things about an individual based on how one lives his/her life, who they vote for, and where they live. As a Christian, failing to look beyond the surface, hinders many souls from expressing themselves and is dangerous to their mental health. When a person profoundly feels different from their culture, feelings of despair, and even depression might trigger unhealthy and damaging responses. Many fall into darkness, feeling unworthy of God’s love.

     The good news of Advent is that Christ came down to look deeper into the soul. Holy actions remind us that the soul contains many colors, different hues that make up a human spirit. Faith challenges us to respond to others with the love that Jesus freely shared with those whom he encountered. I think of the woman caught in the act of adultery. The black and white thinking crowd gathered stones to put her to death, but the Savior looked beyond the surface to discover rich colors, longing for wholeness, hoping to find salvation in the kindness of the one who sat with her in the dirt. When healing hands touched hers, she discovered that she was more than what the world named her. She found the many colors of faith which reclaimed a heart for the Kingdom of God.

     On this day of Advent, let us find joy in knowing that creation discovers the incredible Holy Spirit planted deep within our hearts. A black and white world can never compete with what we have inside our being. The colors of joy, hope, and love reverberate from our souls’ depth into a world in desperate need of rediscovering potential us. Let us move forward from the darkness into a world filled with many spectrums of light.

     When we move from darkness into the light, there is a supposition that everything reverts to a time when life proceeded in a stress-free environment. I often find myself shocked when my entry into the light is quite different from my entry into the darkness. “No, Lord, you answered my prayer all wrong. I want it done this way.”

     What I fail to accept is the solution provided with Divine wisdom comes in radically different ways. Eventually, if I stop fighting, I discover that the new course is much better, and the benefits far outweigh any quick fixes. Faith must interrupt the doubts, and hope gives way to a brighter day. We step into the solution and allow the Spirit to guide us.

     On this day in Advent, we thank God by remembering that our entrance into the light is sometimes fraught with struggle. We ask for strength in our hour of need so that we will not slip back into the darkness but gladly embrace the luminary essence of the Holy One of Israel. We sing, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” but have a tough time living as if God ransomed us. In the toughest of moments, we discover the One who keeps us balanced so that our feet may walk a steady line. We embrace our joy so that it will be made full.

     As I got ready to go to church this morning, I heard a statement that bothered me. While not talking about the birth of Christ, someone said, “If you come down…” My first reaction was one of anger. “What do you mean ‘if you come down?’” Our season of Advent is one of preparation as we expect the coming of the Messiah. Perhaps the phrase should read, “When you come down…” The use of the word ‘if’ implies a sense of skepticism that does not ring well in my ears. Christ does come down and lives among us.

     Loaded with fire in my belly, I did what I should do in the first place, and I prayed for guidance. I realized that there is another way to interpret the “If you come down” statement. What if the author used “if” as a gesture of respect and humility? In this case, the tiny two-letter word implies our lack of worthiness, therefore making the gift of God’s presence even more remarkable and bolder. In other words, God saw the “if” and moved to action. The Holy One erased all questions. The Divine came down to us, in our humblest posture, to bring us the gift of grace.

     The second interpretation of the phrase in question reinforces a penitent heart and not one of doubt or confusion. I hear a prayer that beings in this fashion, “Oh Lord, my God, I know that I am not worthy to receive you, but if you choose to come to me, fill me with a renewed spirit so that I may fully worship you.” This posture represents the hope of Advent. God chose to come to us by giving us His Son, God with us!