Today I was reading Thomas à Kempis' The Imitation of Christ, as I often do for a devotional. He shared about being properly prepared to experience Christ's presence in the Eucharist. I am not from the Roman tradition and do not appreciate any kind of -substantiation, so some of what à Kempis wrote has no resonance with me. However, his position on contrition and humility before Christ did. He wrote that Noah, Moses and Solomon all prepared vessels that represented God's presence for salvation. David danced, sang and psalmed before God. This reveals how people should act in the presence of God...with joyful abandon and all of our being. God's presence is a big deal!
Earlier this week I was also reminded that God is, in fact, always present within God's good creation. I thank Brian McLaren's book Naked Spirituality for bringing this back to my mind. God is indeed present. It becomes our responsibility to be present with God.
With à Kempis' writing as a back drop, how then should we prepare to engage God in God's immanent presence? Should we not live as humble, contrite people who are favored to enter into the presence of the Great Creator? While we don't have boats or boxes or buildings, we are, ourselves, vessels that contain the Spirit and real presence of Christ. At this time of year, especially, it would be a good thing for we who call ourselves followers of Christ to reflect on the merciful, loving presence of Abba Father, Jesus the Messiah and the Holy Breath of Yahweh in our lives.
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