I wasn’t raised a Catholic, I wasn’t raised anything, but that doesn’t mean I never saw God before my eventual conversion. Lately I’ve been reflecting back on a particular experience I had quite often when I was in middle school. I would walk past a large oak tree on my way to class. It was a perfectly normal tree, nothing special, but some days, when the wind was blowing and the sun was streaming through the rustling branches, it became something so much more. I felt that in the middle of all this ordinary, there was extraordinary. As I took in the scene I was always left with the unshakeable and hard to place feeling that I was meant for more than South Texas suburbia going through its motions. As I grew older I came to discover that what I was feeling was the presence of God working in my life.

We’re invited to take time to unplug from our busy lives and experience God’s presence all around us everyday. When we make this an intentional practice we begin to see God everywhere, not just in Church on Sunday. We’re constantly affirmed by the knowledge that someone much greater than ourselves loves us. God’s love is written in everything, the rustling of trees, good times with friends, or a cup of coffee in the morning. He created us to live a life of awe with him; all that we need to do is open our eyes and look for it.