Perpetual Presence

by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

As you sit in prayer

and try to remain mindful of God,

failing because your thoughts wander,

remember this:

that God is perfectly mindful of you always,

attentive to your being and your doing,

never straying from your heart,

not missing a single breath,

or forgetting a single heartbeat.

God is never distracted, never forgets.

Without neglecting anything else in Creation,

for all of Creation is present in God,

God is fully present to you,

seeing not from afar but from within

your journeys, thoughts and feelings,

holding tenderly your sins and wounds,

delighting in your gifts and beauties,

fully aware of what you yourself

only dimly suspect deep within you.

God is in all that you see, and in your seeing,

in what you hear, and in your hearing,

in your wondering, in your sorrow, in your awe.

God is grateful for you, and delights in you.

God longs in you, grieves in you, exults in you.

God’s gives full, peaceful, loving attention to you

all your day and all through the night,

not controlling or manipulating,

just beholding, blessing, loving

and breathing life into you,

powerful, joyful, beautiful, infinite life,

granting you mindfulness,

and mindful always of you.

Steve Garnaas-Holmes is a poet, songwriter, and ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church, serving in New Hampshire, where he lives with his wife, Beth. He previously served in Montana for twenty-two years. He writes a daily contemplative reflection, Unfolding Light, as well as lectionary-based music and worship resources (http://unfoldinglight.net). He is a member of a music and comedy group called the Montana Logging and Ballet Company.