by Sr. Sheila Campbell MMM             Ireland          10.11.2022

For some time now I have had a phrase running through my head: “I am already there”. What do I mean by that? Where did it come from? I think it all started earlier this year with the news and excitement around the new Webb space telescope, able to penetrate far back into space and time. They think that they can go back, close to the “Big Bang” which started this all off.

Well, it didn’t all start with the Big Bang if we believe in a Creator God. Then I had this wonderful thought, before the physical universe started, we were all in God’s plan. I am held in being because God wants it to be. That means before all recorded history, before all the kings and queens and even the Pharaohs of Egypt, I am already in the heart and mind of God. I am already there, before dinosaurs, ice ages and the formation of stars. Isn’t it the most comforting of experiences to know that we are held by God, brought into a physical being at this moment in time but already enfolded in God’s love and care. What will death be but a return to that immense love?  I am already there.

Sometimes I have to hold myself in check. While all the above is true, I am also called to live in the ordinary, mundane world of today. I am called to be a good Sister, a good neighbour, a kind, warm and patient person.  Most times patience is an ideal rather than a reality!  So being a human person is like living in “both/and” situation, rather than “either/or.”

One of the reasons I like “I am already there” running through my head is that it reminds me of a bigger world and the ocean of love in which I am, in fact, swimming.  Now, isn’t that a comforting thought on a winter’s morning!