Quotes about Presence
she was like a disembodied spirit who took up a great deal of room.
— Edith Wharton
It's more real to me here than if I went up, he suddenly heard himself say; and the fear lest that last shadow of reality should lose its edge kept him rooted to his seat as the minutes succeeded each other.
— Edith Wharton
Some hopeless people who anticipate only death cite Scripture that says "I desire to depart and be with Christ" (Phil. 1:23). But Christ is not what hopeless people really want. The God-talk is misleading. The goal of hopelessness is to end the suffering, and if God happens to be there when it happens, fine. But God's presence is not essential.
— Edward Welch
What is most important is that you look away from yourself to the true God. No matter who you are or where you are from, you will be able to know him and worship him. And when you worship him, it means you are accepted into his presence.
— Edward Welch
Faith is not the presence of warm religious feeling. It's the knowledge that you walk before the God who hears.
— Edward Welch
How does God move toward you?
— Edward Welch
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.
— Albert Schweitzer
Let us take refuge from this world. You can do this in spirit, even if you are kept here in the body. You can at the same time be here and present to the Lord. Your soul must hold fast to him, you must follow after him in your thoughts, you must tread his ways by faith, not in outward show.
— Ambrose of Milan
Through the loss of my wife and many confusing times, Jesus was always there by my side.
— Jeremy Camp
In our heart, in the heart of each of you, let there be always the joyous certainty that the Lord is near, that he does not abandon us, that he is near to us, and that he surrounds us with his love.
— Pope Benedict XVI
He also came to realize that he had been so busy attempting to do things for God he had not spent time enjoying fellowship with God.
— Richard Blackaby
In solitude, at last, we're able to let God define us the way we are always supposed to be defined—by relationship: the I-thou relationship, in relation to a Presence that demands nothing of us but presence itself. Not performance but presence
— Fr. Richard Rohr