Where do You meet me or I meet You on a daily basis? Or do we even meet regularly? You always know where to look for me, but do I know where to look for You? Surely I meet You in these letters and in praying, but these letters and my prayers are extensions of where I really meet You each day – in my needs. It is in my needs that You appear to me. And how is it that You manifest Yourself? The answer is simple and easily overlooked, especially in those times when I am mostly concerned with myself. The answer is – in others!
In this life it is by other people that our needs are met. You work in this world through the instrumentality of other people. If I am open to it, You appear to me in them. This is the way You choose to manifest Yourself to me. In fact, I’m thinking that if I miss this I’m missing Your primary action in my life. I do feel that You touch me in prayer and in these letters but I’m thinking that relying solely on these prevents me from being fully aware of the primary sources of communications with You – other people!
Sometimes sitting in a congregation at Mass I look around at the backs of peoples heads and think, ‘He/she is a copy of an awful lot of the same things I think and experience in relationship with You. And he/she is loved and visited equally by Your Spirit.’ This kind of thinking downplays my uniqueness and emphasizes my common bonds with humanity. It makes me realize that, at its root, we are all seekers and that You touch each of us in special ways – not the least of which is the gift of recognizing in others this common seeking. Yes, we bring our own individuality, but that to which we bring it is very much in common with others. Liked and disliked personality traits aside, other people more often than not mirror some of the same images of how I meet You and You meet me.
