And Tim just came in with another armload of firewood.

Present

His gift to mankind

From the very beginning

Come walk with Me, Child.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Genesis 3:8-10

 Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

On Christ the solid rock I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

Prayer is not a transaction that somehow pleases God but a transformation of the one doing the praying. Prayer is the awakening of an inner dialogue that, from God’s side, has never ceased. This is why Paul could write of praying “always.” Prayer is not changing God’s mind about us or about anything else, but allowing God to change our mind about the reality right in front of us (which we usually avoid or distort).

When we put on a different mind, heaven takes care of itself. In fact, it begins now. Prayer is sitting in the silence until it silences us, choosing gratitude until we are grateful, and praising God until we ourselves are an act of praise.

Jesus tells his disciples, “Be awake. Be alert. You do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, at cock crow, or in the morning” Jesus is not threatening, “You’d better do it right, or I’m going to get you.” He’s talking about the forever, eternal coming of Christ now . . . and now . . . and now. God’s judgment is always redemption. Christ is always coming. God is always present. It’s we who fall asleep.

Or hide.

Be ready. Be present to God in the here and now, the ordinary, the interruptions. Being fully present will allow you to say, “This is good. This is enough. In fact, this is all I need.” –Richard Rohr

Selah.

How can I be afraid?

Curled up once again in The House Beautiful. Yes the old junk wood is crackling in the stone fireplace. Of course. The sky turned bright pink for just a moment, and now it is simply light.

Yesterday piled high with despair. A distorted reality. And God calls to me, gently, once again, “Where are you?”

Here I am.

Present is good. Present is enough. In fact, in Truth, Present is all I need.