A message channeled during a group session on June 2, 2024, by Rev. Jeff Munnis about how we can experience the presence of God in this moment, and extend that awareness into our everyday life.

Transcript

We sometimes live in a place that is very small. And when we want to go out from that place into the world, it’s so easy to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of everything around us, and we shrink back, and we try to control that space that’s around us. And if we’re not careful, it gets a little smaller each time we shrink back. So, part of the journey is to expand ourselves in a way that opens us to the world, that opens us to the gifts that are around us, perhaps gifts that we don’t see the first time we see them. And to do this, we have to overcome fear. And fear is always a fear like death or some part of us disappears or some part of us is not acknowledged or some part feels weak in the face of what’s around us or in us. But the truth is, in our most natural state of being, we’re so clear and so pure that we’re transparent. Some teachers would say, “Oh, it’s like cleaning the glass. That you can see out the window and the world is clear.” But the space that I’m talking about, there’s no window. It’s just an openness, a clarity. And that window, when we first look out, we might find something very curious, a small thing in the distance. And if we imagine that we walk up to that window, suddenly the window enlargens, it gets larger, and we see more of the world that is outside of the space that we’ve been keeping ourselves in. And if we can imagine a bit further, the window on the wall disappear, and we have a chance to fully experience life, so much so, that whatever we see, we can feel what it feels like to be that object or to be that other person, that other place under a tree or in the wide open space of a meadow. In that kind of space, those things that come to us from the world come a bit softer, a little easier, where there’s a shared consciousness so that we understand what comes to us. We can see someone and feel how they are feeling in the moment, feel their joy or their pain, their confusion, and there is an equanimity that exists for us in that moment where it is simply our presence that is helpful, our presence that is healing.

It was much the same way for those who encountered the Buddha. It was the same for those who experienced being in the presence of Jesus. There’s an expansiveness where the sunlight surrounds everything, and the quality of the sunlight is the same as the light that we feel within us, and being in that presence has an intimacy—an intimacy that’s personal. It’s recognizable. We see it, we feel it the way we see and feel each other now. And it’s a part of this world and a part of every world at the same time. It’s in an eternal moment for us where there’s neither the future or the past, simply everything in this moment. And everyone, everyone who has ever lived, can be present in that eternal moment. That moment exists not just for us, but for everyone around us whenever they choose to enter into that moment. It’s a moment where life is renewed, where there’s a new birth, where there’s death as a transition into an eternal moment. And everything that we experience, everything that we feel, everything that we see, there’s no barrier to the seeing. There’s no barrier to the hearing. And while we are in that moment, experiencing the joy of that moment, experiencing the expansiveness of that moment, at the same time we experience the intimacy, all it takes is a small shift in our awareness to know that God is present, to know that God is flowing through us into that moment and flowing through everything that we see and hear around us into that moment. The words don’t come from a voice. They don’t come from another person speaking that we can see. They rise up inside of us where they fall down and land on our tongue. And when we speak from that moment, we can speak a different kind of truth; not a truth that’s a simple fact, but a truth that is more than a fact. It’s an awareness of our being, an awareness of the meaning of that being. We have the consciousness of the fullness of that moment.

In this moment now, we might see and feel those that we know are present, but there’s also the possibility of seeing and feeling those we don’t see. And our sight is changed to an inner kind of sight. Our hearing is that inner hearing. And we can hear the voices of those that sit, just as we sit in this moment waiting for God, waiting for Christ, waiting for all those teachers that have talked about having this moment, this moment in this eternal now.

I can speak to you in this moment, and you can speak to me in this moment, and no matter what we say, every part of this moment is an acknowledgement of that full presence that exists in all being. When we sit in this moment together, we can ask anything, and it will be given because what comes out of this moment comes out of that consciousness that surrounds us in a way that the right request and the right response fills us in an immediate sense.

I’ve been asked if others are present when I speak. And yes, others are present, but we are opening ourselves to an experience of God in which it’s not always appropriate to speak. I’ve been asked, does it mean that others can speak to us through Jeffrey? That could happen, but it’s not the intention that’s brought to this moment. The intention that’s been brought to this moment is the full, unfiltered experience of God’s presence—a presence that has acknowledgment within each one of us, a presence to which we can both speak and listen, a presence that has an authority that meets us in our experience according to our intention. And when we come into this presence, our ability to articulate our need is paramount. In the articulation of that need, that prayer is a consciousness that is responding to our self-awareness, a self-awareness that has to acknowledge who is present first, and to know that God is always present first. The proper acknowledgment of God always opens a different door—a door that is suited to us, for us, and no one else.

On our journey we have a choice: to see our journey as a physical journey, a material journey, or we can see our journey as a spiritual journey in a material world. And even though the spiritual laws of the universe overlap in this material realm, they are not so evident as the physical reality. It takes a different kind of attunement to reach an at-one-ment with Spirit. And what is the Spirit that we seek and that which has been promised to us? A Spirit of truth, a Spirit of healing. The coming of wholeness. The forgiveness for all the things for which we hold ourselves accountable. There’s a grace that comes in that presence. There is mercy in that presence. No judgment. The mercy that comes with the acknowledgment that a physical, material realm can be full of pain and suffering, and that even in our suffering, we have to find a way through that suffering into that openness, into that space of presence—that space where everyone that is present acknowledges the one presence from the beginning, acknowledging that we are one part of the multitude that makes up that presence; and no matter how many of us there are, all of us are still held within that one presence. And when we practice that presence, no matter how poor we believe our practice to be, the acknowledgment of that presence grows. And over time, we are aware of that presence through everything that we do, and everything that we say. Even the words that we say to ourselves, we become aware of the presence that remains to help us, to hold us, and it is in that presence that everything is accomplished.

There are some who enter this presence that might ask for an acknowledgment of what they feel, or that someone might speak for them on their behalf. But everything that is being brought to you in this moment, in this time, is that so you can bring this and help it rise up within yourself, even when you feel alone. That the power to heal is within you, and that the healing you seek is according to your intention. Even though there are those around you who have their intention, and their support, it is still according to your own awareness and your own consciousness that healing is accomplished. We find it helpful to know that someone might be there cheering us on, but every soul comes face to face with its own self-evaluation. And so, in the presence of God, that self-evaluation will matter most. And so, I come to you asking that you enter into this with your awareness, to bring your consciousness, no matter how feeble you think it might be, to use it, and bring it into the moment. In its use, in its effort are the seeds of its growth.

(A.R. - I have a question about a devotional path versus feeling more of what might be my own heart, my own way, the way of accessing that presence. My path has been one of accessing that through another—living, dead, another being comes to help often. I also wonder if it might be more accurate to my being if I could access my own sense of that. I know that those are not definitions that exist, but my question is something in there about where I turn to gaze or to feel that presence. Is there a sense of either/and/all/experiment, is there a rightness to any of those paths? How does one know what path perhaps their particular system is set up best to resonate with?)

There is always help around you. If you want to think of it like having your own cheering section at a game that are cheering you on, but you’re the person on the field. You’re the person in the moment. It doesn’t matter who you think is helping you or who you might feel you need to help you. Eventually everything comes down to a place where you, through some word or action where you are going to acknowledge that God is present, and you are going to acknowledge that God—even though you may not sense God’s presence surrounding you—you are going to sense God’s presence within you. And that no matter what’s around you, that presence that’s within you is greater and stronger, and that is your true connection to God.

Practicing the presence of God can take any form, as long as the intention behind the action or the words is to become aware of God’s presence. So, you can sing and dance or sit quietly, or you can walk and observe nature, or you can pray, as long as you pray knowing that every word you speak or imagine is heard by that presence. Know that every step that you take, every sensation that you feel, every sound that you hear is a response to your attempt to hold that presence. When we say that Jesus can reveal God to us, we are saying that Jesus reveals it through his actions that acknowledge the presence of God in him. And the same is true for us: that we are that same revelation, that same light that enlightened the Buddha, or that same light that’s been brought by any of the saints and teachers into the world through the things that they do acknowledging that presence. And if it is nowhere around them, they always find it within themselves. They practice it by calling on it in the most trivial ways, and the smallest things become the biggest things over time. So, the answer that you think that you’re seeking is something that you already have within you, and to continuously acknowledge that is the key to an awareness of that presence at all times. You don’t need anybody but yourself, the fullness of who you are. You’ve been given that access and that gift. Just claim it for yourself.

(J.C. – Something very strange or unusual has been happening in my life for the past three months. A lot of things behind it. I’m just back from a spiritual retreat, and last time was back in January. It’s not bad, it’s that since that time in January, there’s been this desire for the presence of God in my life in a different way. I’m an 80-year-old man. It’s mostly been focused on the Spirit of God, recognizing the presence of God in our lives, and building on that. And talking to this presence, as if this presence is a person, not just an “it.” And prayer throughout the day, and readings, I’ve been reading a book on the journey, “An Invitation to a Journey.” I’ve been reading writers, workshops, God’s Holy Spirit. I grab a scripture that says one thing about the Lord, “That I will seek after” and that’s what I’ve been seeking after. And that says that I will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, and behold the beauty of the Lord, nquire in his presence. To me that flipped into the theme of a retreat I was at that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore, I want to make God comfortable in my life. And strange things are happening. Sometimes I can’t even, I have to. . . at the end of the day, I can’t even believe all the things that are happening with my encounters, sometimes with a baby, sometimes with a puppy dog. Some of these encounters, I don’t even want to get into them. I just end up talking to them. I don’t even try, but we’re talking about God. My question is, what’s going on in my life?)

It sounds to me that God is going on in your life.

(J.C. - I don’t want it to stop. I want it to grow. How do I do that?)

Acknowledge it. Continue to acknowledge it. Continue to give thanks for it. Continue to have a conversation with it. And when you say that it’s not an “it,” that it’s a person, God comes to us in so many ways. One way we could say is that God comes to us in the fullness of our experience, but not just the fullness of what we are feeling in that moment, but everything around us that is holding that and allowing that to happen; and so, as you experience it, continue to allow it to happen. Don’t fear it. Don’t control it. Let it own you. And like Spirit, like Jesus said, it goes where it goes. And let it carry you there because it will always protect you. What a gift that’s been for you. Acknowledge the gift with thanks.