The Real Presence of God 

God, we are complicated creatures: reluctant, idealistic, complaining, generous.  You know us well.  Our secrets don’t surprise you.  You seek out our hiding places.  In crisis and celebrations, you are there. We try to protest: God, why do you allow such suffering?  Then we remember: you are no stranger to abandonment or to joy.  Even to doubt. You have walked through valleys and to mountain tops. You have faced lonely nights.  No matter what engulfs us, you have been there first. Your presence brings comfort. 

Still we want signs.  Show us your face, Lord.  Are you really the one?  Our lives seem too complicated for your word.  We are hemmed in by clashing promises.  Appealing voices beckon: we’re the way.  No more suffering.  Here’s the answer. 

How do we really know? 

You send signs.  A broken people, you heal us.   Filled with remorse, we are washed clean.  Hungry, we are sustained. Your words lift us.  Your body frees us.  Who is this God who shares our life and enters our flesh?  Who does not forget. 

God, help me to trust.  In the water and desert, in the word and the flesh, in the spirit: you are there.  Finding you is delight.  I realize thankfully just who I am.