The Power of Presence

Where did I notice the presence of God this week?
I went to the doctor Monday, and my friend went with me.

Going to the doctor, especially if you are worried, is an invitation to know your own vulnerability and frailty, an invitation to realize how small you are. Though I look like a Great Big Grownup, it never fails to make me miss my mom, gone 20 years this fall. It never fails to make me feel small and afraid.

We all have experiences like this- part of what it means to be human and live in an imperfect world. If we're lucky, someone will Accompany us.

My friend drove and parked in the maze of strange streets and lots, she helped navigate the hallways and the questions, listened to answers and possibilities. She steadied me and encouraged me.
All week I've been thinking about what an experience of Grace that was, of how it was, in a concrete way, the presence of Christ.

This is a primary task of Christian community: to Accompany one another. To remind each other by our presence that we are not, in fact, alone. To walk together the roads to Emmaus and the Cross and the next village, just as the disciples did, knowing that Christ is present wherever 2 or 3 of us are gathered in his name.

This church knows something about that: One member spent this week with a friend hundreds of miles away, to be present for her surgery and recovery. Others of you, I know, have made visits and made meatloaf, have brought flowers and brought soup. You have showed up to pray, you have sent the card, you have served as a 12-step sponsor. But you have also sat down to coffee and listened and cared when there was no medical issue. You've helped someone be strong, hang in there, know Grace. You know the power of this, I think.

Our world is starving for this kind of grace. Our culture is full of isolated folks who need a sense of hope and holiness that only Presence can provide. Some of them don't know how to ask. How can we do this?

We do this as a community at our quarterly services for Healing and Wholeness (Thursday, Sept 18, 5:30 pm, chapel) In those intimate gatherings, all who come are accompanied, we are present to one another. We pray by surrounding each other with singing the extended, beautiful chants. We acknowledge our need for healing in body and spirit. We make space for God's Spirit ot come and stand alongside us. Always, it is a gift.

What are things that make you afraid, or make you feel alone?
Who has Accompanied you? Was it easy or difficult for you to let them?
Is there anyone you are being invited to accompany, anyone to whom you are called to be Present this week?

Let us be a community of people who help each other who accompany one another, for surely we will meet the Holy One on the way.

Love to you-
Sandy