Being Present Via Zoom

One afternoon this past week my writing group met. On Zoom, of course. Before the pandemic we gathered in my living room. We each had our self-assigned seats and after years of meeting, I know their beverage preferences. I provided some sort of treat, usually homemade, but sometimes bowls of popcorn or nuts. Before receiving each others' writing, we checked in about other our lives and our concerns about current events in the world. 

Later in the week I participated in another kind of Zoom meeting. This was a group of women from church who had agreed to share insights about the challenges and gifts of these pandemic months and how the Third Chapter, Spirituality As We Age committee could address our needs as elders during the pandemic. 

Oh, how I wished we could have gathered in my living room, instead of on a screen, greeting and hugging one another. I would have added chairs to enlarge the circle and offered something to eat and drink before we settled in to share our wisdom, our insights, our concerns, our losses, but also our joys. 

In addition, I met with clients this week on Zoom, and Bruce and I had a fun screen time conversation with good friends. 

In each of these cases, I missed welcoming them to our home, to being together in the same space, but I was also aware of our ability to adapt to what is required. I was grateful for the willingness to connect even when it doesn't feel quite the same. 

Being on ZOOM or FaceTime takes a different kind of energy than being together in person, and so I think carefully about when and how often I will use that energy. However, would I have preferred not being in communion with these loved ones because we couldn't meet in person? Absolutely not.

We were able to be present to each other, even though we were not physically in the same place. We felt the presence of God in each other's presence. 

                  any thing, any person, any situation 
                  is a word addressed to me by God.
                                 Brother David Steindl-Rast

Any situation. Even Zoom.

An Invitation
Where have you experienced the presence of God in a new way? I would love to know.