Finding God in All Things
Written by: Lisa Kelly
As Ignatian Associates we share the spirituality of the Jesuits and desire to “Find God in All Things.” At the very least, we hope to “Find God” at the end of every day by looking back over our day in our Examen and honestly recognizing where we were consoled and joy filled and where we were in angst and desolation. In those places, God was “speaking” to us in some way, offering love for us, even love within the things that didn’t work out as planned. Hind sight is truly 20/20. At our best, we “Find God” when we are fully present within the moment itself—be it at children’s soccer games, on the job, on a plane trip, anywhere, and we are fully engaged with how we are being called to recognize love in that moment. Ignatius stresses that we don’t need to be sitting still for prayer (although we all need times of stillness for ourselves.) Instead, it is in the act of loving another that we are truly united, one, with God.
And how do you “know” if you have “found God” in something, in a moment of your day? For me it is like hitting a hard reset on my computer; It is reconnecting to my mission, to that which makes me tick and makes me seek goodness. It is the self-awareness of seeing what is truly important and needed in a situation rather than just what I “want.” It is the moment of gratitude for what is, and the release of the angst for what isn’t. And in those moments, there is a sense of wholeness, of Oneness with Something greater than myself, with another person, or with the world around me. When I step outside of myself enough, at the end of my day or throughout the day, to momentarily name and celebrate that experience of Oneness, that is when I can say I find God in all things.
Lay on the ground under a tree on a summer day—you’ll feel the Oneness. Look another person dead in the eye and listen to only them, or better yet tell them you care about them—you’ll feel the Oneness. Do what you have been gifted to do and do it not for the paycheck or the accolades, but to make the world and lives of others better and you’ll feel the Oneness. Do the right thing, the ethical thing, hard as it may be, and you’ll feel the Oneness. Find God, seek to be One with Him, in all things, all experiences, all opportunities, all moments. Jesus lived this Oneness in every moment of His life, showing us it is possible to do the same.
So do you feel Oneness? Right now? Can you find God in all the things of your life?
Photo: “A Moment to Share” by Wazari from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)
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