Today, mass was about God’s healing and allowing a blind man to see and a deaf man to hear. It was the moment others realized they were in His presence. I have been there (of sorts)!
Someone asked me about my faith. Those who seek faith have never realized when they are standing in His presence. For at that moment, faith takes over. It is peace in accepting the things that happen. It is comfort in knowing there is a plan. It is strength to do what has to be done to get through any situation. It is when you only have one set of footprints in the sand. I hope this will help them to realize their “God” moment. It’s a little story of when I knew I was standing in His presence…
When I got pregnant with my daughter ( who turned 28 yesterday!!), my dad cried with joy that his ‘baby’ was having a baby. He talked about the joy of carrying this child through our Easter Bunny program for the Elks Club the following year. He adored his grandchildren that he already had and was so excited to be gaining another. My father had an aneurysm on Mother’s Day that year when I was five months pregnant and he was rushed to Proctor Hospital. Now, those that know my family know it is large. There were eight children in my family. ALL EIGHT OF US made it to the hospital to speak to my dad! One of my brothers lived in LA and another in Phoenix. They had come in for Mother’s Day. My dad spoke to every one of us and he knew we loved him. While my mother was waiting with him for a life flight nurse to accompany him to OSF by ambulance, he had a convulsion and went into a coma before we saw him again at OSF. While he was in a coma with a grim prognosis, my mother asked me how I felt. I told her I was mad because I wanted my dad to live to see my child. She told me, “If we let him go, he will be the first one to put a smile on that child’s face.” He died two days later. I believe her. I had peace and so did my father. I felt His presence.
Five years later, an officer at my work had an aneurysm like my dad’s, a leaking one that allowed her to stay conscious but was in a lot of pain. I had a very hard time thinking this young woman was laying in the same disposition as my father. She was so much younger and had small children. That night, I had a dream about my dad. He was sitting down and holding my children (I had two by then). He was doing what I had hoped he would have had the chance to do while he was alive. I woke up with peace and comfort. Years later, if you would have asked my children about my dad, they could answer you. Is that because I gave them enough information about him and let him live through me or because they met him once? I know the answer. At that moment, I felt His presence. By the way, the officer lived and is still doing well today, 20+ years later.
Miracles happen in His presence. They don’t have to be the parting of the seas or water turning into wine (although that one is my favorite!!). They are the little miracles that some call coincidence or science. I can give you many stories of people who have felt His presence. One co-worker had this miracle when her brakes went out on her vehicle. It isn’t so much the one statement that proves it, but the events that led up to it and those that followed. I believe these ‘happenings’ are small signs we are not alone on this Earth and are still being influenced and moved by the loved ones who have gone before us. They don’t have to even be loved ones we had ever met, but are still guided by such as my children knowing my dad without ever having met him. His presence.
Please look for the little miracles that happen every day. There are many signals that life should, and will go on and there are signs of His presence we overlook every day. These are events that bring a sense of peace, comfort, and strength. That is a prayer I have for everyone. Peace. Comfort. Strength. It is when you have these you will know His presence.
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