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Here is Holy – Formed for This · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever looked back on an ordinary moment and realized how important it was?
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: At the time, nothing seemed especially remarkable.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it was a conversation with someone you love.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet evening together.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: A moment of unexpected kindness.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or perhaps a difficult experience when someone simply stayed beside you.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And later, sometimes much later, you realized that something sacred had happened.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't recognize it at the time.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: You were simply living your life.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder how many moments like that pass through our days without our noticing.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's a story in Genesis about Jacob,
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: who was traveling through an uncertain season of his life.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: He stopped for the night, found a place to sleep, and laid down with a stone for a pillow.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: During the night,
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: he dreamed of a connection between heaven and earth, and of God speaking to him.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: When he awakened, he said something I find deeply moving.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: In the book of Genesis chapter 28 verse 16,
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Jacob says, Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn't know it.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: God was here, and Jacob hadn't realized it.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I thought about that verse many times while sitting with people in hospice care.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Some of those rooms were filled with sorrow.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Families were tired.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: People were frightened.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: There were questions nobody could answer.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I wouldn't call the suffering itself holy.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes, in the middle of all that uncertainty, something happened.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: A son reached for his father's hand.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Someone spoke words of forgiveness.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: A family laughed together over a memory they hadn't shared in years.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Or everyone simply grew quiet and nobody felt the need to fill the silence.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: I've been in those moments and sometimes I've walked away thinking God was in that room.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Not because something miraculous happened that we could point to, but because love was present.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because someone was seen.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because people were caring for one another in a place where life was painfully fragile.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think Jacob's discovery is one we continue making throughout our lives.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: God is not confined to places we label sacred.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: God meets us in the places where life is actually happening.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that includes wherever you are today.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: You may be at home.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: You may be going to work.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: You may be sitting in a waiting room,
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: walking through your neighborhood,
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: or facing another ordinary day with responsibilities you know all too well.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: You may be joyful.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: You may be grieving.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: You may feel strong.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or you may be wondering how you're going to get through the next few hours.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: But here's what I hope you'll carry with you.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wait until life becomes easier to experience God's presence.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to become someone else.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to accomplish something important.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can begin right where you are.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Just for a moment, become aware of your surroundings.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Notice the life happening around you.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And remember that God's presence does not depend on your ability to recognize it.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Jacob was standing on holy ground before he knew it.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps you are too.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Here, in this ordinary, unfinished, imperfect life, God is present.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you are invited to be present too.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Lord God, how often have you been present in moments I hardly notice.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Open my eyes to the quiet ways your love is revealed through the people
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: and experiences of my life.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Meet me in my joy and in my sorrow, in the ordinary and in the unexpected.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Help me recognize that I do not have to go somewhere else to find you.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: You are here.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I am here.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: As you leave this holy moment, carry this prayer with you.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: God is here.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Help me be here too.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: God is here.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Help me be here too.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: God is here.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Help me be here too.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: God is here.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Help me be here too.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you would like to go deeper,
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: the written reflections and other resources are available
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: at powerloveandmiracles.com.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Stay present.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.
• 6:09
  [music]