Beyond the Patio

Experiencing the Abiding Presence
John 15:1-8

In 1934, Admiral Richard E. Byrd was exploring the area near the South Pole. He decided that an advance weather base should be established farther south than the exploration center, which they called Little America. The original plan was to have three men at this new weather base, but because the supplies for this number could not be transported before the beginning of the three months of total darkness in midwinter, Byrd decided to man the base alone.

A specially built shack fifteen feet long and eleven feet wide was sunk into the snow. Food, fuel, weather equipment, and a radio were placed in the shack, and the famous explorer settled in for months of solitude. For several weeks after he was left in the underground shack, his weather experiments went well. He had time to read and listen to a victrola he had brought along. On the last day of May, 1934, tragedy struck. The exhaust pipe to the gasoline engine, that he used to generate electricity for his radio, froze, sending poisonous fumes throughout the shack. Byrd became too weak to lift cans of food and fuel, and he spent hours resting after completing the slightest chore. He was sure he was going to die, and wrote farewell notes to his wife and children. Outside, the temperature fell to nearly fifty degrees below zero.

At the base with which Byrd made radio contact several times a week, they knew something was wrong, but the solitary explorer would admit nothing. They decided that a rescue party should go out, even though the 125 mile journey through the cold arctic night was filled with danger. After several attempts failed, they finally reached Admiral Byrd on August 11.

Admiral Byrd wrote a book about his experience; it was entitled Alone. In it he vividly describes the torments of loneliness, especially when he was weak with illness. But he also spoke of “an abiding presence,” that sustained him and protected his sanity even in his moments of deepest loneliness for other human beings. Like Robinson Crusoe on the desert Island, Byrd knew that God was with him.

(From Pulpit Resource Vol. 10, No. 2 , April May June 1982 published and edited  by Glendon E. Harris p. 24-25)

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In the Gospel today when Jesus talks about an Abiding Presence with God being essential for lives as they were meant to be .

He says:
“Abide in me as I abide in You. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4) Later he says “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”(John 15:11)

It is this abiding presence that was so important to Admiral Byrd and  is to all of us in all the circumstances of life.  It is knowing that God is with us no matter what happens.

“Abide” is a wonderful word.  It isn’t used much these days. It basically means “a mutual indwelling”, or “living together” in such a way that our lives are completely intertwined .  When people live together in this way you cannot think of one without the other.  That is the way it is between God and ourselves.  Christ urges us into that mutual indwelling so that are lives are intertwined with God’s love.

It is a trans formative experience to realize this abiding presence in our lives. It is often referred to as “enlightenment” because it is associated with experiencing light in the midst of our darkness. In scripture it seems like when there is an experience of the presence of God there is light connected with it. When first story of creation was told in Genesis , God’s first words were “Let there be light” . In their wandering in the wilderness, the People of Israel marked off a sacred space in their camp and called it “the tent of meeting”. When they dedicated this space, it is said that the light of God which was called the Shekinah descended on the tent of meeting. Later, the same Shekinah descended on the Temple which became known as the dwelling place of God.

Light is frequently associated with fire such as when Moses, at the time of God’s call to him, saw the burning bush blazing but not consumed. The Israelites were led in the wilderness by a cloud by day and a fiery pillar by night. When the people of Israel  established a covenant with God, Moses went up into a mountain and it is told that the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Later when Moses returned from the mountain his face shone and people were even afraid to come near him.

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How does it happen in our lives?  When have we become aware  this abiding presence? When has the light shined in our darkness? People often talk about it as  a ‘mountain top experience’. Of course it doesn’t have to take place on a mountain. It is anytime whenever and wherever we experience the presence and the power of God, and are engulfed by a feeling of well being. Some of the people  talk about how they had grown up with the image of a stern, judgmental and fierce God that demanded perfection from them. At some point in their lives they were overcome by a the love of God and it was like a light shining upon them in such a way that they knew without a shadow of a doubt that they were loved and accepted by God. It changed their view of God, their view of themselves and it changed their lives forever.

In my own life it was in my later teens and became embroiled in a struggle of trying to understand the world, faith and God, when I was awakened one night and heard the voice of God. I am not certain as to whether it was on the outside or from within but the most revealing thing for me was that God was present.  It was like a light shining in the darkness. To know that God is present in my life was enough for me then and it is enough even today.

This kind of experience hasn’t just happened once in my life but many times in difference ways. When I separated from my first wife, away from my family and beginning a new job, I became deeply aware of loneliness. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I felt a lot of guilt over the broken relationship.  Underneath these two factors largely contributed to the way I acted at the time. I submerged myself in my work as an Addictions Counselor at an out-patient clinic.  I took on an extra job in the evenings as a news announcer at a local radio station.  I looked after a small parish on some weekends.  It was through all of these activities that I tried to free myself from the dregs of  guilt and loneliness.  One day one of my co-workers, a psych nurse, confronted me with the question, “When are you going to stop feeling guilty and beating yourself up? When are you going to start to live?” I was taken back. I said, “Leona, what makes you think that?” She answered, “Well look at you! I mean, you’re living in dingy little place as if it is some kind of punishment. When you are not there, you are working all the time. You never have time for yourself. You probably never spend any time alone. Is it because you can’t stand yourself – being alone with yourself?” Then she added , “If you can’t live with yourself, you will never be able to live with anyone else.” I was shocked. I was without words because I think she had hit the nail on the head. It was the kind of enlightenment I needed to re-examine my life, and make some changes.  I believe that it was a kind of cleansing that enabled me to open my life to discovered new possibilities

When this happened I realized that it wasn’t just her that was confronting me from the outside. It was also coming from the depths of my own being. There was an inner movement. I believe it was the Spirit searching my innermost heart “with sighs too deep for words”.  It was God’s  “abiding presence” calling me to realize that I could not really move ahead from my guilt and loneliness without knowing God’s all embracing love  and acceptance , then following God’s Spirit in the kind of choices that would tell me who I truly was and who I could truly become.

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I also am beginning to realize that  we can experience the abiding presence of God anytime and in any place.  We just have to be awakened to it. Barbara Brown Taylor in her book An Altar in the World tells of many people looking for that spiritual experience, where they will find more meaning in their lives, more feeling , more connection, more life – a deeper reality in life where they are at one with nature, at one with at one with one another and at one with the God (which is described by some as the “Ground of All Being”). She talks of people both in and outside of the church longing for something more in life than they are experiencing now.  She asks “Where is the secret hidden?” and then goes on to say:

People seem to look all over the place for this treasure.  They will spend hours launching prayers into the heavens.  They will travel halfway around the world to visit a monastery in India or take part in a mission trip to Belize.  The last place most people look is right under their feet, to the everyday activities, accidents and encounters of their lives What possible spiritual significance could a trip to the grocery store have? How could something as common as a toothache be a door to greater  life?— the treasure we seek requires no lengthy expedition, no superior aptitude or special company. All we need is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need.  The only thing missing is our consent to be where we are”

(Barbara Brown Taylor An Altar in the World, a Geography of Faith, HarperCollins,  2009, p. 8-9)

She calls this chapter “The Practice of Waking up to God” and it’s about being more aware of our surroundings, of nature, of other people where ever we meet them, of other life forms that we share our lives with, of everything happening around us.  She begins the chapter with a quotation from Mechtiled of Magdeburg:

“The day of my spiritual awakening was the day I saw – and knew that I saw –  all things in God and God in all things”.

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I try to be mindful of the presence of God in my life. In a sense I “practice” the presence of God in my life. I try to focus of God’s presence upon rising in the morning and then throughout the day, wherever I go, whatever I do, whomever I meet, when I am with my family, when I am painting and writing, when I’m in the mall, when I’m driving my car or walking down the street or in the woods, when I’m sitting quietly watching the ocean.  I remind myself that every place is a holy place and that God is a part of every relationship. I try to be aware that ultimately God is the source of every meal whether I say grace out loud or not. I know that the light, even though it may be hidden from our eyes at times, is there to bring us understanding, to empower us and to guide us. When I do this, I find a greater sense of peace.

That is what the practice of prayer is to me.  It is not manipulating God for my own personal ends. It is being really conscious of God, the universal source of energy and light, this very moment, in the eternal now. We are in touch with God at any time and at all times

One of the greatest truths that Jesus brought to us is that God is with us always. Wasn’t he called “Emmanuel” which means “God with us” . The moment we become aware of that, it is a light that shines in darkness. It is a light that communicates to us a total sense of peace, love and acceptance and the knowledge that there is absolutely no place that we can go without God being there also.

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