Our spiritual journey is our personal response to what we recognise as the presence of God in our lives.
The Presence of God
What comes first is God choosing to make himself known to us. This is a gift ("grace"). We don't earn it.
God usually makes himself known through the ordinary events of our lives. Doing something like the "examen of consciousness" every night (when we recall with gratitude events and interactions with people during our day) is one way to become aware of this.
God makes himself known to different people in different ways: E.g. as unity or meaning, as truth, as beauty, as love.
Recognising God's Presence
We are able to recognise God's presence because we are already seeking. That's what the church means by the human "capacity for God." What good talents or qualities of mind or heart do we have and hope to develop? What good goals do we strive for in our work, relationships, recreation? God created these desires in us so that we may know and love him as the source of all that is good. Without God, we cannot be the good people that we are and hope to be.
Our Personal Response
Our response to God's presence involves a decision to come to know and love God through our unique life situation. It is a decision to set out on a journey of faith. Like Abraham, we may not be able to see very much of the road ahead but the important thing is that we are on the road. We can trust that God will help us to know and love him more each day until, at last, we are ready to embrace him with all our being. No one needs to make this journey alone. We are accompanied by the whole church, the "Pilgrim People of God".
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