*Image description: a man sits on a bench overlooking a busy city*

Life is…constant. If I’m not working, I’m searching for a break, and even my “breaks” do not bring peace. If I have even tried to sit still and quiet my mind, to ask some deeper questions, it seems almost impossible.

I am exhausted: are you?

Even now, as I try to take the time, It’s hard to find ways to break through the constants in our lives and find some place of quiet, reflection, and growth.

But what if finding peace and coming to understand, and live in, a life in Christ isn’t so much a call to break through the constants in our lives, but to better understand them. To change our mindset and perspective about them. To transform what it means to live.

The eternal ascent to God begins in your life right now. Not one day later on, and not after you leave this world.

And it is important to remember that our movement up towards our goal, towards God, is not one where we walk alone. We should really not even attempt it alone. It’s a journey we are all called to together.

It is not one where God looks on from afar and questions our sincerity, our capabilities, and our desire to change.

Our ascent to God is one where God is simultaneously the goal and the guide.

He walks with us, encourages us, and constantly calls us. Put simply, God has been with us all along, pointing toward the right goal, showing the good that will strengthen us, suffering and struggling with us, and sharing the outlook that will transform us in embracing His absolute gift of salvation. An eternal gift that is constantly and absolutely offered.

It can be hard to imagine God is with us in every moment, especially considering some of the things we have been through.

Or are still going through.

God is closer to us than our very breath, and yet, it can be so hard to hear Him speak, to see where He is pointing, to accept what He wants from us, and to understand the “whys” behind the constants in our lives.

However, If you are reading this and looking for a change, to go from where you are now to seeking something—something different and new, a deeper relationship with God, if even in just a small way—then you have become aware of Christ who stands beside you. You have heard His voice. You have noticed His gaze. He says hi!

And whether you are going to liturgy every Sunday, or throughout the week, or are wondering what I’m even talking about, the steps that God is encouraging you to take are not so much giant leaps across a dark chasm, as much as a small step in the right direction.

Life is constant. But so is God.

So what now?

That’s what I want to figure out with you. And I’m really looking forward to it. Because we are all on this journey together.

Let’s start the ascent!

Where are you, God?