A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 4/20

Coffee in the Morning by George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

Well, it happened on Saturday
and then again, early yesterday morning,
at odd moments when, truth be told,
my mind was somewhere else...

Both times it happened in a way
I know was not of my own making,
not of my own invention or even
my own desire...

I wasn't looking for you,
I wasn't thinking of you,
but it happened nonetheless:
I found you - or, rather, you found me!

For a moment I sensed your presence,
I knew you were near,
that you were patiently waiting to get my attention,
that you'd been there all along,
that you'd never left my side,
that you were here...

In those two moments
I found a peace I've not found
for a while...

It was your peace, Lord,
the peace of your presence...

Have I been avoiding your peace?
Have I turned away from you?
Have I denied your presence?
Have I looked for you? sought you out?
Have I missed all the ways
you've shown yourself to me?

Have we been, you and I,
like two ships passing in the night?
No, that image fails:
you've not passed me by,
you've sailed alongside me
all the time...

It's as Augustine wrote:
You were within me, but I was outside,
and it was there that I searched for you...
You were with me, but I was not with you...

But on Saturday and early on Sunday morning,
I knew your presence beside me,
even within me...

I knew, at least for a moment,
actually for two moments,
that you were with me
and I was with you...

How such moments come, Lord,
I don't pretend to know...

How many such moments I've missed, Lord,
are likely too many for me to count...

How patient you are in waiting for me
is more than I can fathom...

But it happened twice, Lord,
and I cannot let the memory go...

In those moments
I knew you were near,
that you were patiently waiting to get my attention,
that you'd been there all along,
that you'd never left my side,
that you were there as you've always been,
as you always are,
as always you will be...

So this morning, Lord,
I offer you my thanks for your patient waiting,
your faithful vigil for my attention,
your gentle way of being there without crowding me,
of tracing my steps without hounding me,
of staying with me
even when I try to walk away from you...

And I offer you my hope, Lord,
that such moments will come more often
and that I'll look for them,
not miss them,
that I'll make time for them,
a place for them within my heart,
(that I'll make time for you
and make a place for you)
in my day, in my night, in my heart...

I offer you the peace and the presence I found
on Saturday and early Sunday morning:
show yourself, Lord, and let me find you
today, tonight
and every day this week...

Amen.