Being the contemplated

A small chapel in the redwoods above Santa Cruz, CA (Shaffer Park)

In centering prayer, as they say, you’re sitting in the presence of God. But what does this really mean?

Usually, when you ‘sit in the presence’ of someone, you can see/hear/smell/(etc.) that they’re there with you.

But in prayer, where is God? How can you say you’re ‘in the presence’ of someone/thing when you look around, and all you can see is your dog, coffee cup, bookshelf, and those godforsaken cobwebs you’ve been meaning to clean up (stay focused!)?…

God is not present in this way because if God were, God would be limited to a finite thing that your mind could put into a box to say, “That’s God! Right there!” But as Augustine said, if the human mind can conceive of God, it isn’t really… God.

God isn’t just present.
God is hyper-present.

God’s presence isn’t like the presence of your dog. God’s presence is more like light. When you walk outside in the daytime, you can’t point to one place where the light is. Light is all around you. And you can’t even point at a particle of light. Yes, you can point to things that light shines on. But you can’t point at the light. However, you can’t say that light is NOT present. It’s hyper-present.

This is the presence of God we sit amidst during centering prayer (and all day and night without thinking about it). We can’t objectify God by saying, “THIS is where God’s presence is.” God is the eternal subject while you and I are the objects the divine light shines on. In centering prayer, we bask in that non-objective hyper-present light. This light shapes us. Molds us. Loves us.

Okay, I gotta get those cobwebs.

Grace & Godspeed,
Jonas