According to our gospel, we are each called to be waiting for an encounter with God, alert and ready for whatever comes, whenever it comes, as unexpected as it may be. The psalmist tells us that “Our God will come and not keep silence’, that the Holy Presence is “a consuming fire” to burn away the dross in our lives, in the world around us, along with “a raging storm” with the wind of the Holy Spirit to blow away the ash leaving us clean, prepared for new life, “enabled to live according to [God’s] will” as our Collect for today puts it.

We generally are not a patient people; we want and, in 2019, expect instant gratification, not merely at the press of a button, but at our word issued to our electronic devices. We seldom are willing to wait in line for anything, unless it might be the newest iPhone or the wildly popular Christmas toy for our child—the prize must be worth it in our eyes. Is the Holy Presence worth it? Those who have experienced it testify that it is, far beyond our words to describe.

The Beloved comes when we are ready for the experience, when our hearts are overflowing with desire to know God in our deepest being, when the eyes and ears of our hearts are open to accept what the encounter may hold for us, when we are content to wait for God’s perfect timing in all things, trusting the Holy One to enfold us in blessed peace as we wait. In my experience, the encounter comes right out of the blue, when I least expect it, in the midst of the circumstances and situations of my life here and now. Keeping alert enables us to discover the “consuming fire . . . and raging storm” prepared for us.