Wherever I am I should be all here. That's what Elliot is saying, right? But I wonder to myself what does this look like? feel like? Does it mean wherever I am my mind and heart should always be focused in the here and now? What is "here" for us? I'm going to share what I understand "here" to be...
Being here is when I watch tears fall down the cheeks of someone who allows their heart to break for what breaks God's heart.
I see it in the wonder that fills a 13 year-old's eyes as she tries to wrap her mind around a God who is so big, but still understands in her own way that He is a personal being.
I hear it in the honesty that comes from the heart and voice of the person sitting next to me in a sanctuary as they sing accolades to the One who is here.
Being here is not always a place of contentment or solace.
I perceive it, but do not begin to pretend to understand as I see it in the face of a returned student missionary who is aware of their here and of their there.
I hear it in the way God whispers "be still" when my mind is filled with places not of here.
I don't pretend to comprehend the breadth of meaning that Elliot's quote encompasses, but I understand in my own way what it could define in my own life. I think it has to do with recognizing the time and place where we are currently in life and taking the time to stop and take inventory of the change happening all around and inside of us. Slowly I'm beginning to grasp the concept as I look at the world around me and suddenly it hits me: here is the place in my heart that connects deeply with my Creator for He is the one who has placed me here for a reason. But here only lasts for a second then we are on to the next place while the world is still turning. Here is a fleeting, but precious and yet ever present gift from our Creator.
I experience it when I look at a sunset and am exposed to its fleeting glory. This display of colorful brilliance is a painted message from God to me saying, "Tomorrow will come and yesterday already has, but look! here is a beautiful moment to live in and this is the beauty you experience when you stop and embrace the gift of this moment I have given you."
I live it when I am in-step with God, because God is the definition of the here and now as well as beginning and end, but because He knows the end from the beginning, He can be here. With that realization I strive to be in tune with the God who is in the here and now. I believe in a God who accepts our struggles, but wants us to be in the here loving the people around us with our hearts in tune with the longing to be in the there with Him someday, so they might be there with us also.
Wherever I am, I want to be all here. This is my prayer.
