The Sacred Gift of Presence
"God is the only Presence and the only Power." — Charles Fillmore
This morning I wasn't looking for inspiration.
In fact, I was doing something I rarely allow myself to do. I was simply sitting.
As I looked through the windows of my home across Dorene's Lake, I watched two tiny finches dancing from one bistro light to another. They weren't in a hurry. They weren't worried about tomorrow. They weren't trying to accomplish anything. They were simply being.
A few moments later, a hummingbird appeared almost out of nowhere, hovering beside a hibiscus blossom just a few feet away. For a brief moment, time seemed to disappear. There was no sermon to write. No meeting to prepare for. No project waiting to be completed. There was only this moment.
For someone like me, an Enneagram Three who naturally loves to accomplish, presence doesn't always come easily. My mind is often racing toward the next task, the next dream, the next responsibility. Yet I've discovered something important over the years. When I fail to pause, eventually my body insists that I do. Fatigue has a way of becoming a spiritual teacher.
After months of caregiving, preparing for our gala, managing church responsibilities, and caring for properties, I recently felt my body reminding me that even good work requires holy pauses.
Perhaps the greatest lesson I've learned these past few months has come while sitting beside my mother's hospital bed.
She is no longer able to respond. We don't carry on conversations anymore. Sometimes I work quietly on my computer on church projects while sitting beside her. Sometimes I simply hold her hand. Sometimes we sit together in silence.
But I've realized something profound. Love doesn't always need words.
Presence is often enough.
Just breathing the same air. Sharing the same space. Being fully available with an open heart. Somehow, love still finds a way to speak.
Last Saturday evening, during our Alan Scherer Spirit Award celebration, Martha Creek shared beautiful reflections about Reverends Richard and Judy Thomas. As I listened, something kept echoing within me. She wasn't talking primarily about all they accomplished. She spoke about how they showed up. Their compassion. Their kindness. Their genuine care for people.
That became a sacred "aha" moment for me.
As your minister, there will always be sermons to prepare, meetings to attend, budgets to review, and plans to create. Those things matter.
But perhaps what matters even more is how I show up.
Am I fully present when someone shares their story?
Do people feel seen when they walk through our doors?
Do they experience love before they hear a single word from the platform?
Unity of Louisville exists to empower people to live a spiritual life. Empowerment begins with connection, and connection begins with presence.
Maybe that's true for all of us.
This week, I invite you to practice one simple spiritual discipline.
Pause.
Watch the birds.
Take a slow walk.
Put your phone down during a conversation.
Sit beside someone who needs you.
Listen without preparing your next response.
Notice your breath.
Because life isn't waiting somewhere out in the future. It is unfolding in this very moment.
And perhaps that is where God has been waiting for us all along.
As we learn to become more present to life, we also discover something else: not every unexpected turn is a setback. Sometimes the detours we never would have chosen become the very places where our greatest growth, deepest healing, and most meaningful discoveries unfold.
I invite you to join us this Sunday as we begin our inspiring new two-week sermon series, From Detour to Discovery. Together we'll explore how life's unexpected twists can become sacred opportunities for resilience, transformation, and awakening. Whether you're navigating change, seeking hope, or simply longing to deepen your spiritual journey, I believe this series will
encourage you to discover that every detour holds hidden treasures—and that love is still the most powerful force for transformation.
I look forward to seeing you this Sunday at Unity of Louisville as we begin the journey together.
Love and blessings, Rev. Bobby
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