We walk in a divine presence (Fr. Ron Rolheiser)

    In the Jewish scriptures, there’s a famous incident where Moses asks to see God’s face. God answers that this is impossible because nobody can see God’s face and live. When Moses persists in his demand, God offers a compromise: God tells Moses that he will place him in a cleft in the rocks, put his hand over Moses’ face, and then pass by, so that Moses will get to see God’s back, though not God’s face. 

    This can help explain why we so often think that God is absent in our lives. Generally, we struggle to feel God in the here and now. In the present, God often seems absent. Yet, when we turn around and look back at our lives, we more easily see how God has been there all along and how we have walked in a divine presence, protection, guidance, and love that were imperceptible at the time but are clear in retrospect. We see God’s back more than we see God’s face. 

--Fr. Ron Rolheiser
Facebook, January 4, 2021

Image source: https://prayingthelectionary.life/2017/10/16/exodus-3312-23-my-presence-will-go-with-you-and-i-will-give-you-rest/