During Epiphany
Since we have just entered 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.
First, I think most of us suffer from a decided lack of amazement and wonder. We aren't often startled 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 the signs and wonders in the world around us. After all, we're too busy, distracted, online, and 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 and the next. Perhaps it's time for a change.
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 spaces... You are in God because God is in all things. In fact, God is the deepest part of all things and is 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 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 the Divine that 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, O 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 and 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.
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