Recently I read this sentence in John Ortberg’s Soul Keeping: “I am unable to occupy the present moment.” These words struck me deeply. Though I realize I can connect with God through large chunks of time set aside on Sabbath days and walks in creation, I continue to struggle in connecting with Him hour by hour, minute by minute throughout the day. It seems most of my days I have God as bookends: at the beginning and at the end, but not so much in the middle. I’ve tried setting alarms on my phone and placing sticky notes on my computer as reminders to pray, to pause, to connect with God. However, in my never-ending quest to get more done (at my job at a church—no less!), I overlook the sticky notes and quickly turn off the alarm and just keep plowing.
Matthew tells us in scripture that the curtain in the temple was torn in two at Jesus’s death. At that moment, we were given full and direct access to the presence of God. Let that soak in. We no longer need a High Priest to intercede for us in the Holy of Holies. God’s presence is available to us all the time. As C.S. Lewis describes it, “We may ignore, but we can never evade, the presence of God.” I don’t want to ignore His presence. I want to live a life with God each hour, each moment. Two people who tried this moment-by-moment living with God are Brother Lawrence, a 17th century monk, and Frank Laubach, a missionary to the Philippines in the 1930s. In The Practice of the Presence of God by Lawrence and Letters by a Modern Mystic by Laubach, these two writers capture both their successes and their failures in accounts that can inspire each one of us to live a life connected to God.
We can live more intentionally in awareness of God’s presence by having a continuous conversation with Him throughout the day as we pause between emails, zoom calls, and the next task. We can remember to pause and say, “Lord, I am here. What would you have me say?” or, “What should I do?” When someone interrupts our day, we can pause and say, “God, let me by fully present to this person.” Each hour, each minute of our day can be heaven when we are connected to His presence.