A Spirit of Presence

Over the past several months, I have been reminded of the importance and simplicity of presence. It is the essence of the Bield, whether here as a guest, a volunteer or a member of staff. I have been all three, and feel honoured indeed now to be a member of staff on the Pastoral Team.

The Bield provides so much to those who come here, particularly hospitality, spirituality and healing, all of which manifest in various ways – through nature, conversation, prayer, the arts… even the chickens. Undergirding all of these gifts is a sense of presence – of being present to what is here, to guests, to nature, to the nudgings of God, and simply to ‘be’.

I often think of Pentecost as the blowing wind of the Spirit (like the winds that have been blowing around the Bield over the past few weeks!) and a flurry of activity. However, I am mindful in this season of Pentecost that presence takes many forms, some of which can be easily underestimated – especially the importance of simply ‘being’.

In being simply present here at the Bield over the past several months, I have encountered amazing moments of grace – birdsong of feathered friends who venture here only briefly in a season, conversations with staff and guests, private sharing of challenging and inspiring moments, being witness to courage of those addressing obstacles in their life, and perhaps especially inspiration from prayer and Scripture.

Recently, one reading at morning prayer here caught my attention regarding the spirit of actively being present. In Acts 8.29-39, the Spirit nudges Philip to approach a chariot. Inside, he hears an Ethiopian Eunuch reading from Isaiah. The Eunuch asks Philip to explain the scripture, which leads to Philip proclaiming the good news of Jesus, and then to the Eunuch asking to be baptised. Once Philip baptises him, the passage notes that ‘the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away’. That was it, Philip’s role was finished. God already did the work and simply needed Philip to facilitate.

That notion spoke to me deeply, not only regarding the necessary humility of being present as a vehicle through which God does the work, but also about the importance of being actively present. ‘Being at the ready’ is a term improvisors (like me) know well. Adrienne von Speyr, theological partner of Hans Urs von Balthasar, uses the term Bereitschaft to describe this active presence of being available to God’s nudges. She describes it as an active receptivity, that ‘includes the notion of being “on call” … an active waiting, prepared to serve at a moment’s notice.’ (see footnote) Like an improvisor or a doctor on-call – and like Philip – often how we can best serve others and be attentive to nudges of the spirit is by simply being in a state of active presence, something of which I think the chickens here can remind us!