pat loughery

Twice this past weekend I wrote in big letters in my oft-neglected journal:

MINISTRY
OF
PRESENCE

Just the words that God was speaking, bouncing around my head. An unflding understanding of what it means. I’ve begun to ruminate on this idea before, here and here and in that journal as well.

Here’s what God’s asking of me: To show up. To be there. Wherever there is, to observe and listen, to engage and react. To not wander away when I get bored. Not to stop listening when people speak both verbally and in the hints they leave, vapor trails in the spiritual realm.

It’s hard to do, to be present to people, with people. It’s hard to be less self-centered and more other-centered.