So I was visiting my daughter Julia last week. She has a Wichita address, but lives within a few strides of Haysville, Kansas. I got to town early, and had time to kill before Julia or her husband Jonny got off work, so I went to Subway to enjoy free refills, and get some work done. I was there nearly an hour and a half. In that time there were 17 people in and out of the shop, including me and the two nice young people behind the counter. Of those 17 people I was easily the thinnest. That wouldn’t have been remarkable 10 years ago, but I’ve put on a good 3 pounds a year since my cancer surgery, despite efforts to reverse that trend. I’m almost never the skinniest person anywhere, not even back in my hometown, Huntington, West Virginia, which has been the fattest, most diabetic town in America for three years now. That’s why I like hanging out at the Subway in Haysville, Kansas.
There are many reasons I love being an OWL. Our Older Wiser Loving Seniors group has the most fun, the best fellowship, and the coolest activities, of any group here at Manassas. But a big reason I love being an OWL at 52 (you’re supposed to be 55 to join) is that I am usually the youngest guy there. Many of our OWLS have known me for more than 30 years – some were at our wedding. They remember me when I was young, skinny, and had a head full of curls. I still get to be the kid for a little while longer when I am with the OWLS.
It is important to choose your companions and your setting.
The Bible tells us the presence of God creates an atmosphere where certain qualities flourish. Being in God’s presence makes a difference, makes us better. Humility, for instance, thrives in the presence of God. Humility is such an elusive virtue. Think you have acquired it and you lose it. But when we are before the mighty hand of God, humility is the natural posture we take, and we are lifted up because of it (James 4.10, I Peter 5.6). Psalm 23 reminds us that provision, well-being, confidence, and direction are all benefits of being in the presence of God.
What makes this all so encouraging is that we are always in the presence of God - we can go nowhere God is not. He is everywhere. Psalm 139 says:
Where Can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in the grave, behold, You are there (vv.7-8).
But do we recognize this. “Surely YAHWEH is in this place and I didn’t know it,” Jacob says in Genesis 28.16. Are we ever aware? Christina Rossetti observed in a poem once that “every bush is aflame with God,” but few of us remove our shoes, most of us just pick berries.
We are in the presence of He who generates everything good within us. But we must be aware of His presence, respectful of it, for that good to grow.
