VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT
Desiderius Erasmus 1436-1536
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Bidden or unbidden, God is present as heartbeat, as breath, as sunrise and sunset, as sustaining and suffering love, as dear friend rejected or embraced, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present as a people created from the dust who wrestle with reality and tell stories of their struggles. God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present as slaves thrown out of Egypt and nearly drowned in the Sea called Red, as wanderers in the wilderness for forty years in search of the promise land, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present as prophet, lawgiver, and guide, as smoke and fire, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present as a new born baby in a distant land, as the one around whom angels and peasant shepherds and the beasts of the stable flock and hover in adoration, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present as a child growing up surrounded by the beauties of nature and the cruelties of empire, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present as a young rabbi washed by the waters of the Jordan and blessed by a voice in the wilderness, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present in eyes that are blind or can see, in ears that can hear and do not hear, in hearts opened by love or closed by fear and wrath, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present in accusing mob and fearful friends, in hardened and broken hearts, in disgraceful abandonment, death and darkness, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end, at our birth, in our daily lives, in tragedy and celebrations, and at our death, God is present.
Bidden or unbidden, God is present.
.. “unfortunately I do not know the original source of the wonderful prayer.
It was sent to me and am still hoping that someone will trace the origin of it that I may include the source.” Philip Chircop
http://www.philipchircop.com/post/10569 ... is-present