God’s Presence or anyone’s presence. How important it is. Use page 278. Friends make us better people. God’s presence or acknowledging a higher power in our lives makes us better people. Because when we believe in something beyond ourselves we are moving towards the positive, we are letting go of our self-centeredness. When we do this, moving into a positive direction, then we take on a set of values and morals. Such as being kind to the other person, we find ways to fulfill one’s life with goodness, help those in need, etc. etc. …… Enough said.

So what is presence and why do we say, be present for her/him? Please be present for me? Your presence matters to me? Or your presence is requested.

Presence is the state or fact of being present, as with others or in a place. It is attendance of company, being in the immediate proximity of another. I was present at the store; I was present at my daughter’s recital. This is the physical sense of the word but what about the spiritual side of presence.

Presence is the ability to project a sense of ease, poise, or self-assurance, especially the quality or manner of a person’s bearing. We talk of a speaker who had a good deal of stage presence or in the deliverance of his speech. One might say: He has a fine presence. Some of us talk about the presence of a higher being in our life. (from the Online Dictionary)

So why is presence important? Why do we want someone to be present for us?

When someone is present for us we appreciate that presence. We have someone to talk to and to listen to us. Having someone there for us and listening makes us feel more alive, we feel our true selves coming through which is why our presence matters.

It is important that we do not ignore the presence of others or our own presence. Our presence is considered the essential features of human existence because of the way we process our experiences not only with ourselves but with others. If it was not for others we would get immersed in our own self-centeredness without fully experiencing the joy of human activity and life. We as human beings have a significance which matters to others and our very existence makes the world go around. In general, our intent is to experience life as fully as possible with the implicit assumption that this is the ultimate reality of our being since everything that matters to us can be traced to our experiences and especially when others are involved.

Wow, so this is deep. We are in direct contact with people of this world every day, but our presence matters in all things and how it is manifested or in other words how we come into presence. See the full potential of this is; we have a sense of being engaged in our experience and in our life. A philosopher, named Heidegger refers to this as “being in the world.” His thought is that our worldly presence matters for how things actually unfold, well beyond any physical processes.

Our presence and those of others in our lives is importance and has great significance because we listen to each other’s troubles, we give each other a sense of worth, we hold each other accountable and we inform each other of things we need to know. We need each other to be a presence with us through this life, in the good and the bad times so that we can feel good about ourselves and be empowered. Let your true self come to the surface because your presence matters in this world and here on earth. Think about how you can be a presence for another. Manifest yourself in someone else’s life by being a positive presence for them today. (_{Excerpts taken from Being There: Heidegger on Why Our Presence Matters By Lawrence Berger)}

We ask our supreme being to make us strong enough to manifest our presence to others in a positive manner. May we be at ease with ourselves and lose our self-centeredness. May we be blessed to come into the presence of others. May we have a true sense of being in this world and making a difference. Amen.