Startled, Amazed, Filled With Wonder

Since we have just entered into the Season of Epiphany, I thought I'd spend some time thinking and reflecting on what it means to be startled, amazed and filled with wonder by God. 

To begin, I think that most of us suffer from a decided lack of amazement and wonder. We aren't startled all that often by what God is doing in, through and around us.  

I think there are a lot of reasons for this.  But mostly, I think it's because we've lost our ability to see all of the signs and wonders in the world around us because we're too busy, too distracted, too online, too jaded...  

We're not lifting up our eyes.  
We're not lifting up our hearts. 
We're not lifting up our spirits. 

We spend hours buried in screens, barely able to tell the difference between one day to the next.  Perhaps it's time for a change.  

I believe that if we spent some time "priming the pump" of our holy imagination, we would begin to experience a flow of energy, creativity, wonder, amazement and joy unlike anything we've ever experienced.  

And it begins with a simple acknowledgment:  

You are in God, and God is in you.  

Everywhere you go today... all that you do... in all places and in all spaces... You are in God because God is in all things. In fact, God is the deepest part of all things as the very reason why all of it exists in the first place.  

The anonymous author of the 14th century masterwork, The Book of Privy Counseling beautifully addressed this:  

[God] is your being and in [God] you are are what you are, not only because [God] is the cause and being of all that exists, but because [God] is your cause and the deep center of your being.

And this same God has created you in God's image, and implanted you with the very DNA of God.  Once you begin to grasp this, it changes you.  You begin to see yourself differently.  You see the world differently. 

The lines between what you thought to be sacred and not-sacred become blurry, and difficult to demarcate.  

You suddenly can see more clearly that there are signs and wonders all around you.  And there are miracles and astounding encounters with Divine that both startle and amaze.  

I encourage you to step into this today and begin this new year with some startling epiphanies of your own.  Pray this simple prayer today whenever you begin to feel disconnected from God: 

That which I  am, I  offer to you,Or Lord, for you are it entirely.

Use it as a mantra of sorts to help you regain your focus.  And then after praying, look around, take notice because when your heart, mind and soul are looking up... you will begin to see such great things.  

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.