“We need not feel God’s care to know it is working, any more than we need to feel gravity to keep us from sailing off into space.”

It’s true. I do believe each of us is under the care of our creator though we have been gifted with the choice to deny it. It can be hard in a world so full of pain and struggles to fathom there is a loving presence overseeing it all. But when I look at an act of violence, I can clearly see it is a choice one makes from a place of suffering not from a source of love. And my God is love. I could easily fall into thinking, “If God so loves this world, why doesn’t he step in and fix it?” But again I come back to our gift of choice. For what would our lives be without choice? What purpose would it serve to have a world of programmed people playing out a scripted life? And what meaning would our lives hold if there isn’t something bigger we are moving towards?

I don’t have to know the Divine is working in my life to have divine moments. I don’t have to believe it or acknowledge it. But I do strive to have my eyes focus on the Light instead of the dark. I try to be aware and grateful for its company. There is something to be said for knowing the presence of something greater than myself. Whether it is a shimmer of a reflection or a blast of sunbeams, I am training my eyes to seek Light and training my heart to give thanks. From this perspective, struggles have value; dark times strengthen my sight. And grace is found more often.

But I will also say I am thankful the Light doesn’t depend on my appreciation to exist. There are times and moods and moments where gratitude is far from my heart. Times I ignore what I know would be the best response and choose instead to react. Unless of course I missed the addendum to the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, “Blessed are those who cuss like sailors and want to slappeth others upsideth their heads…” No? He didn’t say that yet? And so I continue to strive. Honestly though, when I am in the moment of complete acceptance of this divine love and caring, my own capacity for love and caring, for compassion and kindness is so much greater for it. So yeah, I do not have to recognize this love. But I do. Oh I do.