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First, let us refer back to the sitting outside the store. The sense was there was no concern about whether a sharing of kind gesture occurred or not. No sense was present that anyone should recognize I was sitting there or that anyone should express kindness. The sense was that however one did or did not respond was okay, one way was not better than another way, a sharing from one did not make him or her kinder than the one who walked by without any wish to share. So, there was no personal evaluation, no judgment, present of anyone, positive or negative.
So, invitational Presence means Presence has no agenda of response, as well as no judgment that one is wrong when not responding. Presence is simply present, and that being present is invitational. Who we truly are is already invitational, for Love is welcoming by being Love. Therefore, even to say invitational Presence, or invitational Love, is redundant, for Presence is receptive, Love is welcoming.
The unseen Presence expressed through the physical appearance sitting near that store entrance was available with no thought or feeling that anyone had any need to engage it at all. The act of Grace was simply the nonassertive, nonaggressive availability, the being indifferently graceful. Presence is graceful prior to any action, and action graceful flows from Grace.
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Recent writings have addressed our natural Belonging, that Belonging, or oneness, is our natural Self. We each already belong together, we are Togetherness, we are in communion already. This is true, regardless of recognition or response at the personal level. You cannot not be who you are, who we are.
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We speak, however, of togetherness, oneness, communion, connection, ... as the expression of this Belonging. In my writings, context indicates whether I refer to the Oneness that already is or the expression of that in our relations together. Belonging is, then, and belonging happens. Presence is invitational, for Presence is Belonging. God is, God is goding. We are the wording of the Word, that Word being Christ, and our being Christ in the wording together.
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The human journey we have accepted together, nevertheless, entails expectations in relationship, based on the form of the relationship. My sitting outside with strangers passing by is a whole different context than a person living in marital covenant with someone, for example. Expectations arise naturally out of the shape Belonging takes. Being on a football team together is not the same context as working on a team of healthcare professionals, and, so, expectations will differ, each having its own integrity.
Let us contemplate Presence being expressed, as an example, in two persons entering a marriage covenant. For example, a spouse rightly will expect the other spouse to be faithful sexually to him or her, meaning exclusive to his or her spouse alone. This expectation is not a negation of Presence, only a way that Presence expresses. Presence itself is still invitational, true fidelity is always freely given as gift, not resultant of the expectation itself or that one should be loyal to the other. Each spouse, acting in Oneness, recognizes fidelity arises from Love and the shared invitation to be faithful, not that fidelity is a law the couple is 'legally' yoked to. That is, fidelity, arising from Presence, is faithful naturally, loyalty is offered and received as gift. Presence never demands loyalty, only invites and welcomes, even within the natural expectations of a social covenant. Indeed, we fulfill many social expectations on a daily basis, and the person expressing oneness does gladly in and by Grace. This common sharing becomes, to him or her, as lovely, as sacred, as any ritual in any religious gathering. Even the most freely given fulfillments of social sharing become most holy, most beautiful.
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