by Laura Matthews
How do you cultivate a sense of God’s presence? Can you learn to feel something you can’t see or hear? Can you feel God’s presence anywhere?
A couple years ago, my daughter had an errand at a nearby mall, one of the largest in our area. It was a shopping holiday and there were lots of sales scheduled, so I knew it would be crowded and parking would be problematic. We therefore decided to get there right when the mall opened. I also felt the need for some quiet time, so I told her to meet me at a particular bench when she was done with her errand.
I brought along some inspirational literature to read, and got through it fairly quickly. Then I just sat on the bench where I could see down two long corridors. Mentally, I was in the space of inspiration but not actively thinking about anything.
People started to arrive around me: couples, children, retirees. As I watched them go by, they naturally became included in my mental inspiration. I began to notice that each little group, even those who were alone, had a story.
A married couple walked past. The wife talked and gesticulated, while the husband patiently listened. His arm curled around her waist and his hand caressed her shoulder, but she just kept talking. Eventually his arm fell to his side, no longer touching her. I watched in suspense, hoping, hoping%85 and as they moved farther away, I saw her arm link into his.
An Asian grandmother came by with a developmentally challenged young girl. The girl walked awkwardly, but had a brilliant smile. Grandmother walked faithfully beside her, guiding her and responding to her comments.
Families went by, talking and planning, the connection between them etched on their features. Groups of teens went by, laughing and jostling like young colts. Retirees in gym gear went by, using the mall as their private exercise track.
As I observed each one flicker past me, I gained a growing impression of goodness, love, happiness, cooperation, family. The mall was filled with these qualities that day. I looked up and down the corridors, seeing everywhere people going about their normal day, filled with love and giving and conversation and joy.
Love began to resonate in me%97it became all I could see. Finally, I had this feeling of the entire mall being enveloped in Love, and each of us was walking through it, existing within it,agents of it. It was as though I caught the real spirit behind Mary Baker Eddy’s words: “The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space. That is enough!” (Science and Health).
My daughter’s errand took about a half hour. I still remember it as one of the most amazing half hours of my life.
Since then I’ve continued to cultivate this sense of God’s presence. I’ll take the opportunity when on a walk or at an event or parking the car to turn my thought upward and acknowledge all the good flowing around me. I’m more and more convinced that God can be found wherever His children are, and that includes me!
So how do you feel God’s presence more? It’s right there with you always. To me it’s just a matter of opening my thought and taking it in.
Laura Matthews is a writer and Christian Science spiritual healer in the US Northeast. Visit her Website at: http://www.lbmatthews.com She also maintains a daily inspirational Weblog at http://www.lauramatthewscs.blogspot.com She’d love to hear from you!
