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Presentation

The Presence of God - what a vast subject! In this issue we are able to touch a few of its points only. A characteristic feature of the Jewish.Christian tradition is the belief in a personal God, continually present in the world he has created, involved in its history, breaking into human solitude through his revelation of himself and calling forth an answer - this Here I am (Hineni) of the Bible, indicating one's readiness to listen to this God who speaks.
God does not impose his Presence; rather, he offers himself to us. His Presence in creation and in each one of his creatures is discreet, it is the source of joy to the one who discovers it. It is like a parable whose symbols and signs have to be deciphered. It is accessible, but only to one who is able to listen, who is ready to risk being united to something greater than oneself. It is revealed to little ones, to poets, to those who are able to accept life as gift; who can marvel, who are ready for the surprises that each new discovery brings.
It is both ,hidden and revealed. Sometimes it is found, or at least glimpsed, but under different aspects each time. No person can every fully grasp it or name it. This is doubtless the meaning of the mysterious answer given to Moses in Ex. 3:14, usually translated as I am who (or that) I am; and it explains the reluctance of Jews to pronounce the Divine Name. Out of respect they use circumlocutions such as Ha-Shem (the Name), Ha-Makom (the Place), Adonai (Lord)... or again, the word Shekhínah (Dwelling). Moslems meditate on the unfathomable mystery of this Presence or Dwelling as they recite on their beads the ninety-nine Divine Names. Christinas in their turn find the Presence of God in the -person of Jesus; they commemorate him and recognize his presence among them in the eucharistic mystery.
According to the Jewish-Christian tradition, there is a privileged presence of God in the community of believers united in his Name for prayer or the study of Scripture, as Joseph Sievers has pointed out in his study; his Presence is celebrated during the liturgy ~as we see in the article of Sharon Burns; he is present in sacred places like Jerusalem, the Holy City, of which I2udolf Pfisterer writes; this same Presence will gather together the just into the world to come when they "sleep with their fathers", to enjoy forever the splendor of God.
The one who accepts the Divine Presence and opens himself or herself to its Mystery, discovers within himself and within others a hitherto unknown space; his heart becomes enlarged; he is able to see the newness of each day and, as Martin Buber tells us in his I and Thou, the whole world is included in the Thou, that nothing can be comprehended outside of God, but that everything is perceived in him.