God is Present

When I was a Chaplain in the Army, on occasion I would feel like some soldiers saw me as a “good luck” charm, like a walking, talking amulet to ward off bad things. They wanted me in their armored personnel carriers (tracks), they wanted me to go with them on their missions, be on their ranges. Once when the battalion was flying out on C130 transport planes out of Andrews AFB, some wanted me to get on their aircraft and say a blessing for them before the planes took off. So there I was, just before the propellers started turning, on the tarmac going from aircraft to aircraft, jumping on, looking around at some of the young troops wanting reassurance that they would be alright. After I offered a prayer and blessing, I’d jump off that aircraft, and run to the other one behind it.

Now, not everyone thought of me as a talisman, but no one seemed to turn down a visit from the chaplain, even under “normal” circumstances. They were well trained, disciplined troops, they knew what they were doing, but evidently having the chaplain around anyway never hurt. I think sometimes we feel the same way about God… life is okay for most of us most of the time, but it never hurts to have God somewhere around anyway. Someone recently said about us here in the middle-class suburban world, that sometimes God is like an accessory to an otherwise good life. When things are going well- when the car works, when the schedule is followed and there are no hiccups, when every one is where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there, when the weather cooperates, when there’s enough stuff in our pantries and closets, and we have a steady paycheck, our lives are going well… “relying” on God seems sort of redundant. We might describe it more accurately as more like God’s on a ride-along with us as we go about our business. We wouldn’t reject God for sure, and we certainly would never turn down some blessing or other, but over all, God might sometimes look to an objective observer watching most of us, that God is a “nice-to-have”.

Recently a pastor friend from Ghana came to visit. He came to do some work with another church here in the area, and seeing as how we do not see each other very often, we took advantage of his visit here to “catch up”. And he reminded me of how reliant people in Ghana are on God! The way he talks always impresses me this way. He talked about what God was doing there among them, how they needed God, how God was alive among them even in the simplest of things. Being around him reminds me again of the power of a living God… and how we’re so easily lured from that view of God.

When we’re out there in this culture, doing our own thing, it’s easy to forget the view of God that my pastor friend from Ghana has. It’s usually when we’re alone, when we feel pushed to the edge, when we feel there’s no where else to turn that this powerful remembrance of God comes back to us – God IS alive, and God IS there… not as a talisman… but as the creator and life-giver, the one who inspires awe! I think we need each other – so we don’t forget! We need to hear each other’s stories of God and life. We need hear each others stories of God’s presence, of our relationships with God. I want to thank you for your stories of faith and life! When you talk about your faith, about who and what God is in your lives, about how God shows up in your lives, it really is powerful. Coming together once a week is a good way to remember these things. Praying together reminds me how much stronger we are together, and how alive God is in our midst.

Until we see each other again – usually it’s Sunday – may you be open to God’s prompting, may you be open to God’s blessing, may you be aware of God’s presence. And let’s share these good things!

God Bless you!

Pr. C-