Experience God

"The essential human desire is to experience God."

Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti, "Living Faith"

 

And that, dear Friends, is the Journey.  All our lives we desire to experience God and we seek situations and events that give us that experience.  We may run from pillar to post, from one retreat to another, one book to another, all to experience God.  And why? Because we have experienced God and we loved it.  We can list the times we have felt God's presence--like the birth of a baby, or a physical healing; other moments of intense joy.  We recognize God in those times and we like what we see...we want more.  In today's Gospel (Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25), we read, "(Jesus) went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness..." (v. 23)  We think, "Lucky those people! They got to experience Jesus first-hand!"  But, in our lives, we can experience Jesus first-hand, too.  We just may have to be a bit more awake and aware to recognize him.  The people of Jesus' time didn't recognize him, either, even though he was right there, preaching and healing.  And we face the same thing today.  We desire to experience God, but we still may find God illusive.  If we truly believe that God is in all things, all people, all experiences, then all we need to do is look harder, with open eyes and hearts.  Let's be especially aware today for how we experience God in our winter Monday.  By the end of today, let's spend some quiet time with Jesus and write down all the times we saw him in our day.  Love, heidi