One of my Spiritual Directors, an Episcopalian and psychologist whom I received guidance from for five years, told me, "I don't think God really cares what we are doing - even if we were just staring at a puddle of water, as long as we are being fully present."
* * *
I began with grandiose hopes under this person's guidance. Life had become very painful. I assumed she shared my interest - transcending the world in Union with God. To me, transcending meant an escape from the suffering. Now, I see it as an invitation to enter more fully and intimately into our suffering. So, transcendence does not mean a spiritual levitation above or an escape route but finding freedom from suffering by entering our suffering with complete acceptance.
* * *
We return to looking at the puddle. That is very "Zen." And, being so "Zen," was a devout Christian speaking the puddle message. I see more and more what she was saying to my confused mind.
Whatever God is, God is. God is not an inside thing, an outside thing, or both; a past, present, or future something. Union with God is, if anything, being present to what appears right before me. If I see that, truly see and not just look, I see God.
When we experience wholeheartedly looking into a puddle, we experience life as a ritual of wonder, a rite of presence. As long as we are reverently present, which is not about feeling reverently present, we experience Union.
When present to that puddle of water, you are with that puddle of water. You are with God. Why need it be more complicated? Be with anything in any place, and you are with Spirit everywhere.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
