Seasoning
by Joellen McCarthy, BVM; Peggy Nolan, BVM and Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM

Dear SALT Readers,

Who is God? Where is God? How do we know God? The beauty of our human attempts to describe an infinite God lies in the inexhaustible multiplicity and diversity of our names for God.

On the one hand, God is imaged as up in the heavens far beyond the reach of our daily lives, much like this understanding of the Psalmist:

Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens.
Who is like our God seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth (Psalm 114, 113).

Yet, there is another side to God, the nearness of God, suggested by these images, also from the Psalmist:

Where can I flee from your presence?
If I soar on the wings of the morning
or dwell in the deepest parts of the sea,
even there your hand will lead me.
You find me on the journey and guide my steps;
you encompass me with love wherever I go
(Psalm 139).

Indeed, the beauty and mystery of our God is that God surpasses all knowing and naming and yet is known and named by our everyday experiences.

Some of you may be familiar with the compelling song, entitled “Everyday God,” created by Bernadette Farrell. Singing a litany of names for God, each name is followed by the simple refrain, “Everyday God.”

In the song, Everyday God is present in our dreaming, in our daring, in our searching, in our sharing. Everyday God is present as a way of freedom, as timeless healer, tender sister, and loving mother. Here in our resting, in our rising, in our hoping and in our waiting, Everyday God is home and shelter, strong and patient. A God of sorrow and a God of laughter, “Everyday God” speaks words of gladness, mercy, friendship and challenge.

In this issue of SALT we read testimonies to this everyday God in whose presence we live an everyday spirituality. For the authors of these articles, this “Everyday God” draws near as we

• Take a stand for justice;
• Choose to do the right thing, no matter what the cost;
• Serve in parishes and dioceses as ministers of faith formation and pastoral care;
• Act in ecologically responsible ways;
• Let ourselves be influenced by the poor and the vulnerable;
• Meet the diverse academic and social needs of students;
• Bring an intercommunity retirement housing project to reality;
• Exercise leadership as president of a high school and college;
• Live in interconnectedness with other persons and all of creation;
• Offer solace to persons who have lost their jobs;
• Release values beyond the duration of a single life through a bequest;
• Share the daily joys and sorrows of marriage and family;
• Engage in small human acts over a lifetime from youth to retirement;
• Volunteer in a food pantry in Illinois or a Hansen's hospital in Ecuador;
• Practice nursing in patient homes, hospitals and juvenile detention centers;
• Provide comfort to persons in hospice care;
• Stay awake all day long to God's greetings in sunrise and bird song, interactions with students, a community meal, and evening rest.

May our enjoyment of these stories and the God they reveal invite us to treasure and to tell our own stories of how an Everyday God draws close to us in the everyday experiences of our lives. And together let us celebrate our awareness of a God who causes us to marvel, “Who has a God so near to us as our God is” (Deuteronomy 4)!

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©2006 Sisters of Charity, BVM