A poetic meditation on my quest of God and God’s quest of me.
God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM” (Exodus 3.14)
O One Most Holy,
I seek Thee wholly
with all mine heart, soul, and mind.
By Thy Spirit,
pray I, may I find Thee, surely. Amen.
When, thus, I pray,
then I hear a dear Voice unto me calling clear:
“My child, that you seek Me
means that you have found Me.
For I AM, alway seeking you,
as near as your thought of Me,
as near as your prayer to Me.
And I said: “Amen.”
occasional observations of mind and heart, soul and spirit 
Thanks Paul…. So if we seek God, that means we’ve already found God…. Ok, now that works for me!! I always seek God, but in different places all the time… Does that mean that wherever I am as long as I think of God I’m covered? Ive said to you many times that when I’m outside of church is when I feel closest to God. I guess because I come to church to renew and follow tradition and service, through prayers and song. But it’s a ritual of sorts so I don’t usually expect to actually “find God there”… I can make up my own prayers, (though I do have a traveling prayer book) and I feel that because I’m speaking with my whole heart, mind and soul that it’s more “real” and “authentic” than when I’m simply reciting prayers from a book I’ve read from for my entire life.
I’ll keep seeking!! Thanks for the reminder!!
much love!
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I love this, Paul. And, of course, the thing that instantly popped into my mind was “The Hound of Heaven.” It may be old-fashioned and out-of-date, but once that poem catches your mind and heart, there’s no getting away from it. The genius of Francis Thompson, I suppose, to have written a poem that did exactly what he described in the poem. : )
And now the genius of Paul Abernathy to remind us that seeking God/Love means in some mystical way to have already found God/Love, for God is as near as our breath, as embracing as a summer breeze, as pervasive as the scent of flowering trees, as present as a soft spring rain, and requires only our merest wish to be so touched.
With you I say “Amen” to the reassurance in your poem. May we spread the awareness in the way we walk through the world each day, awaiting that touch, that presence, and when the opportunity arises, passing its comfort and blessing on.
Much love,
Karen
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Alrighty, my dearest sisters, you, each and both, have stirred within me deepest, profoundest thoughts…
Loretta, your sense of joining in the church community to share in ritual/tradition, of course, is something that matters to me – for the longest time unto this day. Still, your awareness, your experience of being real and present with – and finding/knowing – God apart from the established rituals touches a core and deep soul of meaning for and within me.
Karen, Francis Thompson’s “Hound of Heaven” has been a favorite of mine for many years. The passion and power of knowing – trusting, believing – that to have conceived of seeking God is to have found God (already!) is one of the most comforting spiritual notions (realities!) that I can imagine.
Deepest love, highest respect,
Paul
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