Read
‘When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established’… (Psalm 8:3)
Reflect
In several of my thoughts recently, I have referred to the majesty of God as it is shown to us in creation: in the sky and in the natural world around us. All this drives us logically to ask, “So what? Does that really say anything about whether or not there is a God?”
Of course, whether or not there is a God is a matter of faith, and a very short Thought for the Day cannot possibly answer the question. But let me share an experience.
Very recently, we were on holiday in Northumberland and visited the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. While we were there, we looked over Lindisfarne Castle, which began as a 16th-century fortification, and were interested in the history of the place. We visited the ruins of the medieval Priory, near the site of the earlier monastery founded by Saint Aidan and his companions in AD 635, where the monks lived out their monastic life.
After we had finished looking at the architecture and the ruins, we remarked to each other that there did not seem to be a great sense of spiritual presence. Then we made our way up onto the clifftop, where we found the recently excavated foundations of what may have been an early chapel, possibly associated with Saint Aidan’s mission.
As we approached the few remaining stones, it was as though we had received an electric shock. Both of us felt the same thing. For both of us, there was an unmistakable sense of spiritual presence: the presence of God.
Since returning home, both of us have talked to other people who have also visited Holy Island and asked whether they experienced the same thing. Usually, the answer has been, “Yes, indeed.”
No, this does not prove that there is a God. But it does describe something for which there is no ordinary explanation. There, in that rectangle of stones on the site of an ancient ruin, we sensed a presence that, for us, makes sense of everything in the sky above, in nature around us and in the earth below us.
Whether that answers the question, “Is God there for you?” I cannot prescribe. But, for me, it is the answer. I have no doubt.
Pray:
God of mysterious force and inexplicable presence, we find you in thin places where the worlds of heaven and earth seem to merge. Help us open up spiritually to feel your nearness in the cloudier places of life, when we are busy and there is noise and stress. Then be with us to bring us calm we pray. Amen.