Article May 25, 1987 Issue

Feeling God's presence

Who hasn't longed for a more felt, vivid sense of God's presence? Sometimes hymns can open our eyes to Him as few things can.

Richard Charles Hix

How does one gain a heartfelt feeling of God's presence and not just think about Him in a sort of abstract, intellectual way?

For a long time it wasn't clear to me how to do this. Frequently I would try to really feel God's presence. Sometimes I would go to a quiet place, close my eyes, and attempt to silence the clamorings and suggestions of the carnal mind about disease, pain, fear, or sin. I would try to listen for a Christ message and feel God's love. At other times I sought inspiration by pondering a passage from the Bible or from the writings on Christian Science by Mrs. Eddy. These efforts were far from consistently successful.

When I asked for prayerful help from a Christian Science practitioner, it was suggested that I might do one more thing—look up references to the word feel in the Christian Science Hymnal. My research opened up for me a new way to recognize and feel God's presence. The words of Hymn 134 awakened my thought. One line says, "I feel Thy touch, eternal Love," and another line, "Thy hand in all things I behold." It dawned on me that I had been exposed to God's touch in many ways every day but was unaware of it. I had not been recognizing God's hand in the things I saw and heard.