In The Presence Of God

I have a dear friend with whom I occasionally make pilgrimagesOne of our favorite destinations is to visit the traveling female Indian mysticsWidely acknowledged as avatars, or living incarnations of the DivineCalled “Amma” or “Mother”, they travel around the world offering blessingsWhich, quite frankly, is no small taskThese women are not young. They sometimes spend 18 hours greeting people.The devotion runs both ways:Hence our pilgrimages.So, one day, we went to go see Amma KarunamayiShe’s lovely and sits in front of a room full of people.While you wait, you can fill out an index card with your petition to the DivineWhen it’s your turn, she reads it, she looks at you, she blesses you, maybe talks a littleAnd sends you back to your day with some Hershey’s kissesShe is not speedy in her blessings and once or twice we’ve been there all dayLike, all day.But this time, we get there and it looks a lot like we are going to be in and outThen just before they call our group, they change the pattern on group callingWe might be there all day again.The woman next to us waits maybe 3 hours, getting increasingly agitated every 15 minutes or soMy inquiry during our waiting became,“If we are here because we believe this person is an avatar of the divineWouldn’t being in her presence longer be a boon? Wouldn’t it be an added blessing?”And, I mean, I’ll admit I was excited when I thought it was going to be quickBut we are here literally to be in the presence of God, and we areSo, maybe, let it in?After some time, the woman next to us cannot take it anymoreShe gets up and leavesBut she couldn’t have gotten to her car before they called our groupIt was the weirdest thing.I’ve thought about that a lot latelyI’ve been so impatient for God to intervene in my lifeI neglected recognizing that all of this is the Presence of the DivineAnd what a privilege it is to be hereEven when I’m feeling edgy about it.Remembrance really is a boonAs are the effusive blessingsSometimes disguised as hardships. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fallingtenderly.substack.com