Do you see God in your daily life?  Are you aware of God’s voice?

Very few people I speak with say that they do. Just the opposite. Instead they tell me the primary reason they have trouble with God is because they can’t touch God.  God isn’t there whispering in their ear, holding their hand, or giving hugs.  God doesn’t respond to their needs. God doesn’t usually communicate, in other words, in a manner they recognize.

I always reply that God DOES reply, but we don’t always have the eyes and the ears and the heart to see, hear or know this is happening. 

Do you recall Jesus’ first words in the Gospel of Mark?  They are “This is the time of fulfillment The Kingdom of God is at hand.”  (Mark 1:15)  What is it, that kingdom?  My impression is that God’s kingdom has a great deal to do with that for which we all most long.  We desire a place of comfort, of joy, of love; we long for a place where life is as it should be, where justice reigns, the good are rewarded, and punishments are meted out to those (few) who deserve them. A place of compassion.  A place of beauty.  A place where we get along. I long for that! Don’t you?   

That kind of place is also a place of healthy relationship.  A place where all people have a voice and all people are heard, respected, treasured.  What Jesus taught us is that we all have a role to play in creating that kingdom.

I read a reflection a couple decades ago that has always stuck with me.  The author was commenting that they believed that when someone reaches out to you (outside of a business context), they reach out for one of two reasons.  Either they are in need of love, or they want to give love. Maybe both at the same time. Since then it has been my observation this is very much the case.

Too often though, how do we respond to these requests for love?   We ignore those texts, the emails, the phone calls.  We decide we don’t have the time to respond, to check to see how the neighbors, the “friends” we haven’t spoken with recently, or our parents /children are doing. Everything else becomes more important. 

I would like to suggest that perhaps one reason we don’t see God’s presence in our own lives is for that very reason.  Perhaps if we want to learn to see and hear God responding to us, we must first learn to respond to each other with love!  Perhaps this is a major part of building the kingdom?  Maybe if we can’t be honest and present with each other, we have real problems being the same with God.  Perhaps when we make excuses as to why we can’t reach out to the friend who needs a smile, that sibling who is waiting to hear back from a text, that parent who would love to get a phone call …. We push God aside, too.   

So much for the kingdom then, right?  The song Say Something (by the group A Great Big World) really grabbed my attention when it first came out.  “Say something, I’m giving up on you.”  It broke my heart, for I saw it happening all around me. We don’t get responses and we give up – on each other, on family, on God. We give up on building the kingdom, the place and life, the love for which we all long.

Small steps, that’s all we need. And yes, this is easier for some than for others. Extraverts aren’t necessarily experts at this. Nor are churches! But with practice I do believe everyone can be.

We need movement toward this so much right now!  Every small, personal effort helps.  So, reach out.  Respond.  Speak love and learn to see God. Say something!