Session 4: When God Felt Close

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Today, see if you can recall a time when you felt the closeness of God… and saw in the depths of your being that God’s love was real…

Feel your lungs filling with cool air as you breath in… and emptying warm air as you breath out… become gently aware of each part of your body, and as you allow God to gaze upon you with everlasting love…

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Listen now to the word of God spoken to the Prophet Elijah…

He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

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Notice how God comes close to Elijah, not in the movement of the wind, nor the tremble of the earthquake, or the heat of the fire, but in the sound of sheer silence… and then raises his voice with a simple question…

Allow a memory of God’s nearness to begin to surface… whether it was in a prayer, in a place, in a relationship, or in a liturgy…

Inhabit that memory once again by applying your senses: what do you see, hear, taste, touch, and smell…?

Recall what you were doing, and who was with you… what you were thinking and feeling… how you knew that God was present…and how you knew that God was close…

Name this moment as a touchstone that will help you recognise God’s nearness in the future as you go about your daily life…

Now speak to God about the memory of that closeness… and ponder what it tells you about who God really is…

Is there one word that captures what you felt as you contemplated that memory of God’s closeness…? Carry this word with you wherever you go over the course of the day as a gentle reminder…

God, before all else, you are the ground upon which I stand, you are holding me in being, and you love me every day.