G. O. D.

So I am coming into church this morning and there was a man sitting on the step outside of Fellowship Hall. Are you going to the meeting? He asked me.

No, I am the pastor - and I can let you in.

And then he talked about the fact that he used to have a key, but after a friend died, he stopped coming for a while.

We talked about grief and loss and I told him about how people sometimes don't want to come back to church after a death - too much sadness, too many tears.

And then he shared a story about God giving letting him know that the person was there - and he mentioned a butterfly, a fortune cookie and a tract from the watch tower. And he said G O D - Glimpses of Discernment

And, of course, what we see as God - others can so easily see as co incidence.

Then I came to my desk and read the meditation for today from Richard Rohr.

NON-DUAL SEEING


The mystical gaze happens whenever, by some wondrous “coincidence,” our heart space, our mind space, and our body awareness are all simultaneously open and nonresistant. I like to call it presence.

One wonders how far spiritual leaders can genuinely lead us without some degree of mystical seeing and action.
It is hardly an exaggeration to say that “us-and-them” seeing, and the dualistic thinking that results, is the foundation of almost all discontent and violence in the world. It allows heads of religion and state to avoid their own founders, their own national ideals, and their own better instincts.
Lacking the contemplative gaze, such leaders will remain mere functionaries and technicians, without any big picture to guide them for the long term. The world and the churches are filled with such people, often using God language as a cover for their own lack of certainty or depth.

So I start this day with his prayer
When you can be present,
you will know the Real Presence.