Always it is the same: You suddenly realize that God has been there all along—that yes, God is present in your life. And the words of praise and thanksgiving rise to your lips, perhaps after great sorrow or suffering or that darkness of mind which seems endless and terrible when it is upon you.
And what is it that brings that realization of God’s all-loving presence? Isn’t it that something changes inside you that cannot be explained by anything you did or anyone else did to you or for you? Often something you have been hoping for or praying for just happens. Perhaps you wake up one morning and something is different. You accept what you couldn’t before, or you look in the mirror and laugh at yourself. And peace seeps through your whole being, and everything seems good again in spite of pain or sorrow or loss.
—from the book Song of the Sparrow: Four Seasons of Prayer
by Murray Bodo, OFM
