Every night we put my two-year old daughter to bed, we have the same routine. Brush teeth. Pajamas. Read stories. Say prayers. My partner puts on her sleep sack and they say good night to all her animals. Then I place her in the crib and I lay down next to her bed on the cold hard floor.
Why the floor you ask?
Well my daughter can’t fall asleep without the comfort and I think she’s scared of being alone in the dark. Each night as she lays down to sleep and after about 3-4 trips to the potty, she reaches out her little hand through the crib railing and asks to hold my hand. And we hold hands until she falls into a deep slumber. Sometimes it takes minutes….sometimes it takes hours, but I stay with her until she feels safe enough to fall asleep.
This is how I experience God.
Whenever I’m scared, anxious, unsure, sad or feel vulnerable…I reach out for God’s hand.
I do this through prayer. Through meditation. Through a walk in the woods. Through listening to a beautiful song. Through a yoga practice. Through calling a friend. Really anything that helps me see and feel the presence and peace of God.
And God always shows up.
In the blooming yellow daffodils amidst a brush of dried leaves.
In a good laugh on a phone call with an old friend.
In savasana.
In the hook of my favorite jam playing on the radio.
In some release after prayer.
Taking my hand and holding me until it passes.
We are living in uncertain times. We are all vulnerable to a virus that is mostly invisible. While we are touched by this virus in varying ways….we are all touched by it in some way.
In times of uncertainty and disorder, there are many ways seekers look to God. Sometimes seekers call on “God above” to make way for Grace and miracles. Sometimes seekers call on “God in front” to guide and lead. Sometimes seekers call on “God somewhere, anywhere and are you even there?” to make meaning and sense of things.
And then there is “God with”….the God that sits with us tenderly and holds our hand through the dark night. Present. Never judging our problems…big or small. Never letting us endure anything alone. Unearths in us the courage, the strength, the peace, and the wisdom we thought we didn’t have. And so we reach out our hand and God stays with us.
God be with us.
Hold our hands through the dark night
until we find peace
and wake up to a new day.
Amen. Ashe.
Photo Credit: Derrick Brooms