Be Present to God

All we need to know is how to recognize his will in the present moment. . . .  The divine will is the wholeness, the good and the true in all things.  -Jean-Pierre de Caussade

"Mindfulness" or "being present" has no value in itself.  What matters is what I am mindful of or what I am present to.  The object of my mind's occupation will shape my mind - its content and it contentment.

Being present to God includes a number of aspects.

• It is letting go.  It is surrender.  I find that when I am before God, I am am freed of  my resistance to him and his will.  Resistance to God is distance from God.
• It is embracing his presence.  It is intimacy.  I find when I am freed from resistance to God, love for God flows into my heart and mind.  Distance from God is distance from his will.
• It is following Jesus.  Obedience to Jesus is abundant life.  I find when I am seeking to obey him, I become most aware of what is right in front of me that needs to be done.  His will is first and foremost in the present moment.
• It is in this moment in the details of life.  I can only find his presence, his will, and my surrender in the moments that I live, not outside them.  Whatever is removed from the present moment only has value in its service to the present moment with God.
• All these aspects and others address the same thing in the same moment.  In this way, surrender is God's will which is intimacy with God which is obedience to Jesus which is being present to God.  They do not occur separately, although I may be more conscious of one that another at any given moment.

In this way, I am discovering a unity of many different aspects in being with God in the present moment.  This unity helps me to avoid pretending to be present to him.

Be.  Here.  Now.  With God.