Quotes About Presence

That night I hardly slept a wink, but turned over and over in my tent; never until then had I felt so alone or so deserted. Perhaps even the elephants are too small, I thought, as I stared into the darkness, and we need a far bigger and more affectionate presence at our side.

Lila was in no hurry to leave; it was pleasurable for her to see herself in my silently adoring gaze, where she reigned—I was her kingdom....

Aš gul?jau ten, ži?r?jau ? j? ir pratinasi b?ti dviese. Kai tavo gyvenime nieko n?ra, taip jau išeina, kad ten susigr?d? daug žmoni?. O kai kas nors yra, tai j? kur kas mažiau.

I sat up in the strange bed fearing it had been a dream, afraid I would never see her again. Not because I wanted anything from her, only her presence. The disappearance of the presence of beauty is the most despairing of events on this time-wheel of ours that rolls onward towards death.

The disappearance of the presence of beauty is the most despairing of events on this time-wheel of ours that rolls onward towards death.

The idea that everyone is strong enough to bear immediate contact with God is false, and conceivable only by an age that has forgotten what it means to stand in the direct ray of divine power, that substitutes sentimental religious 'experience' for the overwhelming reality of God's presence. To claim that everyone could and should be exposed to that reality is sacrilegious.

But it seemed manipulative to me to make the hungry sit like good dogs for their supper. And it did not surprise me that even when Brother Bill split the air with one of his more rousing sermons, not a single soul ever burst through the chapel doors waving their hands and praising Jesus. At least not while we were there.

And darkness. You can't see it no more than you can see air, but when it's all around you sure enough know it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there" (Psalm 139:7-8).

Your silence creates a vacuum for others to fill The key is to stay present and keep listening. The silence of holding steady is different from the silence of holding back.

The question is not, nor has it ever been, whether God is willing to move in the hearts of His people; the issue is whether we are willing to surrender in full obedience to Him so that we may begin to enjoy the enormous blessings He invites us to enjoy by living in His presence.

My feet beat out a steady muffled rhythm. My thoughts participated in each step, never getting ahead of me.

It is so true that 'God will be no man's debtor.' When he asks for and receives our all, he gives in return that which is above price - his own presence. The price is not great when compared with what he gives in return; it is our blindness and our unwillingness to yield that make it seem great.

At last I realized that Jesus Christ was actually and literally within me.

Sin is the one thing I abhor - for it is the one thing that can, if unrepented of, separate us, not from Christ, but from the consciousness of his presence. But I have learned that there is instantaneous forgiveness and restoration to be had always. That there need be no times of despair.

God's greatest provision is the gift of a part of His Own Being in the person of the Holy Spirit.

He put his fingertips lightly to either side of her chin, just on her jawline, and looked into her eyes. "Do you really imagine that is my true purpose? Time no longer matters to me all the while I can see you, hear you, and be near you.

Wherever I am, in wood or field, By dawn or evening light, Without cease my heart feels The pain of one who is not here...

It is to be present to the way things are, including our feelings about the way things are. This practice can help us clarify the next step that will take us in the direction we say we want to go.

the capacity to be present to everything that is happening, without resistance, creates possibility

Every bit of communication from then on related to the "wall"; every silence was evidence of its enduring presence.

BEING WITH the way things are calls for an expansion of ourselves. We start from what is, not from what should be; we encompass contradictions, painful feelings, fears, and imaginings, and—without fleeing, blaming, or attempting correction—we learn to soar, like the far-seeing hawk, over the whole landscape. The practice of being with the way things are allows us to alight in a place of openness, where "the truth" readies us for the next step, and the sky opens up.

If I cannot be present without resistance to the way things are and act effectively, if I feel myself to be wronged, a loser, or a victim, I will tell myself that some assumption I have made is the source of my difficulty.

We keep looking so hard in life for the "specific message," and yet we are blinded to the fact that the message is all around us, and within us all the time. We just have to stop demanding that it be on OUR terms or conditions, and instead open ourselves to the possibility that what we seek may be in front of us all the time.