God In Our Mist

Several months ago, I took a walk on a foggy morning that seemingly transported me to another world. Landmarks I was accustomed to seeing had vanished and my perspective shifted as trees suddenly emerged from the gray shroud that enveloped the land. My senses were heightened by the shape shifting that was occurring along my path.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, this walk was preparing me for the season of Advent. As Jesus said in the Gospel reading for the first Sunday in Advent, “Be watchful! Be alert!” (Mk 13:33). Certainly, humans can’t be on high alert all the time or we would be nervous wrecks, like people on a perpetual caffeine high. However, walking in the fog reveals a gentler way of being alert, as Christine Valtner Paintner observes:

“…fog…is so much like life. We really can only see a few steps ahead of ourselves. All we can do is put one foot in front of another and pay attention to what is revealed in the mist before us.”

Jesus spoke about being prepared for the return of the “Lord of the House”; in our case, our challenge is to be alert to the presence of God who is already with us. Each day the mist parts for us and, if we are watchful, we can see God’s encouragement in the person who offers us a kind word, God’s compassion in the one who listens to us as we describe our struggles, or God’s delight when we contemplate a beautiful piece of art.

It’s not like we don’t have the foggiest notion of what to do. What Jesus asks is really quite simple: “What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mk 13:37). The challenge is in training ourselves to be watchful for God among us. It might help to post a note where we will see it in the morning; “Be watchful! Be alert!” Then, as we contemplate our day before retiring at night, we can make a point to consider, “How did I encounter God today?” This practice can help us stay attentive so we don’t miss our daily opportunities to light upon our God who is always present and yet—like a tree in fog—often inconspicuous.