Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it. Gen.28:16 TM. Jesus came and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was. Luke 24:16 TM
‘All that we experience – or know, think, imagine, remember, feel, and dream – we experience because we are first aware’ (Wayne Teasdale). Awareness is our antenna for truth, beauty, reality, danger, or an unexpected opportunity. On the occasion when we miss something important we offer the explanation, “I wasn’t aware of it”. It is possible to remain totally unaware of what is silently approaching or developing around us. The early coal miners descended into the shaft with a caged canary; its collapse served as an early detector of methane alerting the miners to the presence of the deadly unseen threat.
Awareness can be sharpened by training. Take a walk with a geologist whose learning enables him to interpret the different rock formations, or a horticulturalist who can identity plants and trees, or an herbalist skilled in what is edible and what is not. Academic professions specialize in developing a specific awareness through knowledge, observation and reason.
The Bible tells us we may entertain angels unaware Heb.13:2. Jesus told of those who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the prisoner – totally unaware that what they were doing they were doing for him, saying “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me” Mt.25:40. The religious leaders were unaware of the true identity of Jesus; to them he was Joseph’s son, a carpenter from Nazareth, who had gathered a motley group of fisherman together and had shocking, offensive, ideas about himself. Jesus said “You’re looking right at me and you don’t see me’ Jn.8:19 TM. In him God was resident among them and they did not recognize his incarnation in the flesh because they had fashioned God according to their ideas and expectations.
Jacob would say “the place where you are is the place where God is”. Cleopas would tell us “When your hope is shattered and your heart if heavy Christ draws alongside”. How accurate is my image of him? How aware am I of God in my surroundings? We spend the greater part of each day engaged in activities which may demand our total attention. We cannot have thoughts of God while simultaneously operating complex machinery, or calculating figures, or driving through congested traffic. We have to keep our mind focused on the business to hand. Coming to the end of the day we realize thoughts of God have never entered our mind. We may be stricken with a sense of imbalance, or even guilty neglectfulness. That is a mistake. Diligent concentration on our task is a responsible action, and a way of serving God even though we may be unaware of his presence.
A sharp awareness of God’s presence may be experienced at any time, in any place in many ways; a mere whisper of the conscience, elation, connection, disturbance, an inner compulsion to be generous, a warm embrace, a sense of beauty or unity with nature. Certain places, scenes, company or events can be more conducive, but what we are seeking is an alertness to the possibility. It is a matter of being ‘on line’ mentally and spiritually. Paul said ‘In him we live and move and have our being’. Logically therefore we are never outside God, or able to escape God, or live without him, but we can be unaware of this basic truth and live each day as if God does not exist, or is uninterested, leaving us impoverished and alone.
As a Christian we want to be aware; knowing God seeks an intimate connection with us. The psalmist says ‘You have searched me, Lord and you know me’ 139:1. Jeremiah hears God say ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people’ 31:33. Hosea hears God speaking of Israel ‘I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek’ Hos.11:4. Before leaving his disciples Jesus prays for them (and therefore for us) ‘that they may be as one as we are one – I in them and you in me’. Jn.17:23. What could be more intimate, or loving than that?
This is the immeasurable grace of God toward us. Jesus is the personalized demonstration of God bending down to reach us, deliver us, teach us his truth, lift us out of self-love and unite us to himself. To have this awareness can turn the ordinary task into something meaningful and our life into something purposeful. When Iona Abbey was being restored each day began and ended with an act of worship in which the day’s labour of digging trenches, carving wood or chiselling stone became an offering to God. Our daily work in the office, factory, cabin or kitchen can become our service to God with our awareness antenna constantly alert to any indication of his presence, faithfulness and extravagant love.