Take a second to slow down. Wherever you’re reading this blog post, stop, breathe. Look up from your screen for a moment. Listen to what’s around you. Take a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Look at the ground under you and the sky around you.
Recognize your surroundings. Calm the thoughts in your mind.
There’s something to be said of someone who can not only recognize, but enjoy their current state. To reject the constant bustle of our age, even only for a moment.
Looking back, college was filled with many fun, wonderful, and wild things. I had fantastic people around me, professors I respected and cared for greatly, YoungLife teammates who were easily my favorite people in the world, roommates I could laugh and unwind with, and a community around me that really wanted to know and love God. But college also brought unknown heaviness. More than anything I did, I was constantly waiting for the next time. Waiting to feel skinnier like her. Waiting for my thoughts about God (due to my current assignment in my major) to be respected. Waiting to actually enjoy being around lots of people. Waiting for my boyfriend to feel the same way I felt so I could receive some to-my-core affirmation. Waiting to be the happy and content I assumed I needed to be to feel like “myself.”
I was wishing away my days for something uncertain. I wasn’t planting my feet into the ground, taking deep breaths, or experiencing any awareness of myself, let alone God.
Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit? (Ps. 139:7a)(MSG)
God’s presence is everywhere. It’s all the time. When you decide to follow Jesus, you are given the awareness of presence. Sometimes we look for the next moment so consistently that we miss ourselves now. In turn, we miss God with us.
Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. (Colossians 3:3-4)(MSG)
In college, I kept looking for myself, who I really was. This expressed itself in my clothing options or the way I carried my tone in conversations, but one thing remained true- it was constant searching. Had I settled into the idea of the forever hidden self in Christ, I would know myself through the lens of my real life- Christ. We would do well to remember that our lives, in knowing Christ, are not our own.
But in my own experience, this has only brought greater joy. And greater awareness of my life enveloped in a Christ reality. Even if a life of awareness comes through the death of the old life, we can recognize that “God’s ground is my ground and my ground is God’s ground.” (This quote is from a sermon from Meister Eckhart, found in a book called An Ocean of Light, by Martin Laird). In the loss of an autonomous life I make on my own, I actually find that the steps I take are bonded with God’s, and He will never leave me on my own. I have a friend, who meets all of my needs, forever.
Not only should our slowing down allow us to see God all around us, but we should recognize we are not separate from His Spirit. As you slow down, you can start to see that the only “you” there truly is, is Christ. You can look internally and see that remnants of the old self, the old self being life before Christ, pale in comparison to God’s spirit in us. St. Catherine of Genoa recognized her identity hidden in God by saying “My only ‘me’ is God. In my soul I see nothing but God.” Awareness of your unity with Christ is a grace that we must practice.
So slow down. Look at what is in front of you. Take your worries to Christ but don’t create worries that have no need of holding on to you. Don’t beg people to love you- recognize that a new life in Christ means you were loved and chosen before you could question it. Open your eyes to God’s presence on your walks, in the classroom, with your roommates, sitting outside, etc.
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
you’re already there waiting!
- Psalm 139:7-10 (MSG)
When you recognize God’s presence everywhere, then you can allow yourself to be immersed in Light. God is with you, you don’t have to waste away your right now being concerned with the next thing. Take your tomorrow’s to God, write them in a journal, don’t neglect the anxious mind if it needs further care, but be here. Take a second to slow down.
Once I graduated from Clemson, I realized my days would move faster now. I want to see the people in front of me for who they are. I want to enjoy the hours in my day by myself instead of wishing I could be with people. Every moment I have, I don’t want to wish it away. But recognize my surroundings, so I can truly enjoy them. What I know is that at every time, God is already there waiting for me.
Recognize your surroundings. Calm the thoughts in your mind. See God in everything (especially in you).
Comments