The Space We Were Given

A Quiet Reading

My wife came home excited. She had to tell me what had happened in her Bible study.

For some time, I have been working on a project called Creating Space. It hopes to help communities offer contemplative experiences when they need assistance doing so. At its core is a simple understanding: perhaps we do not need to search for God. God has been with us all along.

That evening, I had finished the buildout of Creating Space. I looked forward to telling my wife and sharing the satisfaction of reaching that point.

I never got the chance.

She beat me to it.

Her Bible study has been exploring the Ignatian understanding of finding God in all things. Over the past weeks, we have talked about how closely her study seemed to echo what I was working on.

That night, the connection became difficult to miss.

The author spoke of creating space.

I had to take a deep breath.

For months, I had been trying to create space—for myself and, hopefully, for others. My joy came from finishing something.

My wife’s joy was different.

She had experienced what it meant to discover God within the space already given to her.

I found her joy more compelling than mine.

Maybe that is because there is a difference between creating space and discovering what is already there. I had spent months building something to help people notice. My wife came home having noticed.

Perhaps that is what we are both learning.

We are on the same journey, even when our rest stops look different.

Every once in a while, we look up and discover we have arrived at the same place.