I want to stay awake today

We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always easy to penetrate. The real labor is to remember to attend. In fact, to come awake. Sill more to remain awake.
    C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not to recognize him, but all the more fascinatingly because of that, all the more compellingly and hauntingly.

Listen to your life... See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace. 
    Frederick Buechner, Now and Then
These thoughts by CS Lewis and Frederick Buechner have held my attention for days. We can choose to ignore but can never evade the presence of God. He is here. He is moving, active, alive, and calling us right this minute. We can turn a deaf ear, walk drowsily through our day, or let our eyes and heart get distracted, but that does not change the reality that God is fully present in this moment. He is right here, right now.

I love the picture of the world being crowded with God. We tend to think of life as being crowded with work deadlines, piles of laundry, dirty dishes, and unpaid bills.

People press in, problems pile up and worries overflow. Would understanding that the world is crowded with God change our eyes and transform our thoughts? Would we see each other differently? Would we see ourselves differently?

We bump into God every day. He walks everywhere incognito. He isn’t flashy or loud or glitzy. He reveals Himself in the still dew of the morning, the sun racing across golden clouds, a whispered answer to prayer, one more measure of grace to face the moment, or the gentle nudge to look up and reach out. He is here. When is the last time I searched the faces around me and recognized Him in the crowd?

My Jesus Resolution today is to stay awake. I don’t have to wonder if God is here. He is. My job is to remember the startling truth that He is present and live in that reality. I want to be awake today. Fully awake. Awake to His nearness. Awake to the grace that He promises me. Awake to the opportunity to be surprised, stand amazed, and offer praise. Awake to His call to surrender. Just because God is incognito doesn’t mean He is unrecognizable. I just have to be awake and attentive enough to notice.