The Right Light

“…the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field…”
Matthew 13:44

Years ago, I spent a couple of days at a secluded retreat center that has at its center a large, peaceful lake. I was feeling pretty spiritually numb at the time, and I badly needed something from God though I didn’t know what. On the second day of my retreat, I took a long, slow three-mile walk around the lake stopping whenever I felt the slightest nudge to be still. At one point I stood on a bridge overlooking the lake and just stared at the glassy surface of the water.  After a moment or two an airborne seed caught a wisp of air current and floated down to the water sending ripples cascading outward.  As the ripples grew, two phrases from two different Psalms passed through my mind: “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God,” and “The Lord thinks about me…” (Psalm 119:17 NLT, Psalm 40:17 NKJV).

A sense of peace washed over me, and I stood there for a minute or two and then filed it away in my mind and walked on. But in the weeks and months after that retreat something interesting happened. Whenever I saw an airborne seed from a Cottonwood tree or a dandelion or some other plant, I was reminded of God’s presence with me and his thoughts about me. 

It felt strange thinking of God thinking of me instead of the other way around, but rather than cause me to become self-absorbed these thoughts consistently redirected my mind to God.  Seed-sightings weren’t all that earth shaking, but in their simplicity they gave me a sense of peace and wellbeing as I was reminded of God’s presence each time they occurred.

And then one day I rounded a corner near an open field right about sunset, and the final rays of light caught the grass at just the right angle and illuminated a layer of fluff that rested there, unseen, until that moment. The field was literally blanketed in airborne seeds. It startled me so much that I had to pull over to let the tears flow. It’s as if God wanted me to understand the extravagance of the gift of his presence, and that evening all I could do in response was worship.

God’s presence is transformative. 

When we give our lives to Jesus the Holy Spirit lives within us, and that means the presence of God is always with us. We sometimes lose track, and we don’t sense God all the time, but it is possible to cultivate our awareness of God’s presence, and I’m convinced that growing awareness of the presence of God is one of the most powerful keys to spiritual growth. 

Immanuel. Jesus. God is with us always.  It just takes the right kind of light to see and understand.