A strong awareness of God’s presence is a powerful way to drive sin from the world, to bring even the worst sinners back to God, to awaken the lukewarm, and to inspire them towards fervour. It also helps the righteous grow in virtue until they reach perfection. This is what God told Abraham in Genesis 17:1: “Walk before me, and be perfect,” as if He were saying, “In everything you do and every step you take in your earthly journey, keep Me in mind, and you will be perfect in virtue.” The patriarchs and ancient fathers followed this teaching, of whom it is written that they “walked in the sight of God” (Genesis 48:15). The psalmist did the same, saying, “I keep the Lord always in my sight” (Psalm 16:8), and he urged others to do likewise: “Seek the Lord and be strengthened; seek His face (His presence) always” (Psalm 104:4). This practice has always been followed by the saints, and it is what made them saints.
Practicing the presence of God involves both the intellect and the will. In heaven, the blessed are eternally focused on God, partly by contemplating and seeing Him (which belongs to the intellect), and partly by loving and enjoying Him (which belongs to the will). This makes them eternally happy and united to the source of all happiness. In the same way, God’s servants on earth should direct their minds and hearts toward God. We do this by practising His presence, which involves the intellect in thinking of and remembering Him through a strong faith in His constant presence with us and within us. It also engages the will—our hearts and affections—by turning toward God through acts of love, offering ourselves entirely to Him, and longing for an eternal union with Him. This practice of God’s presence brings great happiness, as it allows the soul to begin to taste the joys of heaven even now.
To grow in this practice, we must rid our souls of three major obstacles: a distracted mind, an anxious concern for worldly things, and an unhealthy attachment to created things. When these, or even just one of them, dominate the soul, God is forgotten. A distracted mind leads the soul away from its true home, chasing after worthless amusements and losing sight of both God and itself. Worldly anxiety chokes out better thoughts, preventing them from taking root in the soul. And excessive attachment to anything other than God turns the heart away from Him. To stay attentive to God’s presence, we must counter distraction with focused thought, overcome worldly anxiety with trust in God and surrender to His will, and correct our disordered attachments by turning our hearts from created things to God.
Resolve to guard against these obstacles by controlling your wandering thoughts, which are always eager to chase after distractions, and your unsteady heart, which is easily ensnared by shallow love or worldly desires. Train all the powers of your soul to focus on God, who alone can make you happy for all eternity.
Meditations by St. Richard of Sussex (Bp. Richard Challoner; meditations in modern English)
