Living From Heaven Towards Earth
Scripture tells us that we are citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20). This is a lovely concept to reflect upon which certainly stirs the imagination, however, what can be easily overlooked is its practical application in our lives. Beyond beautiful sentiment, this statement from St. Paul contains some paradigm-shifting implications for us as Believers, so I’d like to unpack it a bit, to help paint a picture of how we might apprehend all that is available to us through Christ.
When it comes to citizenship, there are certain rights and privileges that we get to enjoy from our home country, even while we live abroad. There is a parallel here that can be applied to our spiritual lives. With heaven as our homeland, there are realities of heaven that we get to tap into and enjoy here and now – realities that will be realized in their fullness throughout all the earth at the second coming of our Lord, but which our relationship with Christ enables us to access in some measure even now, while living in our fallen world on this side of eternity. Our existence on earth right now does not negate nor diminish our current heavenly citizenship – even here and now, we can access the realities and benefits of being, as St. Paul says, “seated with Christ in heavenly places” (Eph 2:6). We are invited to live our lives anchored in this citizenship, anchored in these realities of heaven. Another way to say it is that we are invited to live from heaven towards earth.
Now, this topic has many facets and implications, each worthy of a lengthy discussion, but my purpose in this post is to zero in on one aspect, and that is: how to posture ourselves to connect with and live from the Kingdom of heaven to which we belong.
The Heart of the Kingdom
I believe it is key for us as Christians to learn how to cultivate a greater awareness of the heavenly Kingdom to which we belong – and of the King to whom we belong. Though the how-to’s of doing this are not commonly discussed in Catholic culture, we certainly have a value for it, from enjoying the “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) who have gone before us in the communion of Saints, to partaking of the true Presence we find in the Eucharist. So let’s explore what’s at the heart of the Kingdom of God.
St. John gives us a glimpse into this mystery when he shares the vision he received of heaven in Revelation 21:1–22:5. In it, he writes, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Rev 22:1-5). This is a striking concept: no sun is necessary in this realm because God Himself is the light. It’s difficult to imagine a reality such as this because our imaginations can only draw from what we’ve experienced, but entertain for a moment what this scene might look like – everything is perfectly illuminated, yet there is no sun, no moon, no singular light source. Consequently, there are no shadows cast anywhere, no corners unlit. Instead, we have the full ever-reaching presence of God providing ceaseless light to every part of this city.
This scene tells us a great deal about the Kingdom of God. Though there is much going on, especially in the larger scene depicted in the remainder of the passage and book, when we step back and consider things through a simpler lens, the defining characteristic of heaven is God’s presence.
For this reason, I would propose that a key aspect of exercising our heavenly citizenship and living from that Kingdom is in learning how to connect with God’s presence.
As Catholics, we already know how to seek out this connection through the Eucharist and the Sacraments, and we’re also fairly acquainted with pursuing it during our designated times of prayer, be it regular times of reflection, daily devotionals, music-led worship, or Scripture reading. But our connection with God’s presence is not limited solely to these designated moments or places. We have a generous Father who has given us access to Himself around the clock, and we are invited to connect with Him anywhere, anytime. Rather than limiting our relationship with God to a compilation of intermittent moments together, we are urged by St. Paul to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:17). This exhortation is not intended as a burden to lay on our shoulders or a lofty achievement to strive for, but as an invitation to a lifestyle of ongoing, uninterrupted connectivity with the Lord.
A Presence Worth Protecting
Why is this so important for us? For a number of reasons, I am of the opinion that in our day-to-day living, connection with the Lord’s presence is worth protecting at all costs.
It is the source of our peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, so when we are attuned to His presence, we get to enjoy the peace that He embodies, regardless of what our external circumstances may look like. In fact, experiencing a deep sensation of peace is often a hallmark in identifying the presence of God, and it’s a gift that we get to carry with us when we remain connected to Him.
It provides supernatural strength and energy to interact with the world from a place of overflow, rather than a place of depletion. If we are connected to the Lord, we have access to endless resources – emotional and otherwise – that we can draw from throughout our day, rather than being limited to our own finite strength and capacity. We can love others with His love for them; we can minister to others with His compassion for them; we can offer advice with His wisdom; we can seek solutions with His creativity. Our engagement with the world can be fueled by His supernatural power, which is far more sustainable than our own.
It opens the way for God to move radically through us in blessing others. When we’re connected to the Lord’s presence, we are immediately postured to more easily sense His heart for the people and the situations around us. It’s like keeping one ear fixed on heaven as we go about our day – it keeps us poised to hear the Holy Spirit prompt us to action at any time. Whether it’s a nudge to pray for a stranger, to buy someone’s groceries, to speak prophetic encouragement into someone’s circumstances, or to share the gospel, we can remain at the ready to hear and respond to God’s promptings. This paves the way for us to live the “as you go” lifestyle of evangelization that Christ commissioned (Mt 10:7-8)… and to see God move powerfully at any given moment!
It makes everything more enjoyable! Sharing constant connection with the Lord brings a blessed companionship to our day, and it pulls us into beautiful, holy adventures. Not only do we get to enjoy friendship with the One we were made for, but we get to take part in the redemptive work that God is doing on this earth – an incredible privilege and an incomparable boost to our joy and faith!
Building Ceaseless Connection
So how do we go about building this ongoing connection with the Lord’s presence throughout our everyday life? First, I would say that this is something that can be learned and practiced – there’s no need to get discouraged if it doesn’t come immediately or without effort. It also may require a slight shift in mindset. When I speak of connecting with God’s presence, what I’m talking about is not a matter of “finding” Him at different points throughout the day, like a scheduling a sequence of check-ins. We know God to be omnipresent, so I would instead suggest thinking of it as tuning in to His ceaseless, all-encompassing presence, or training ourselves to become aware of Him. Practicing a steady mindfulness of the Lord, if you will.
There’s a lot that can be said to unpack this, but I’m going to keep it simple and practical. I find that the easiest way to stay attuned to God’s presence is to:
(1) Form an initial connection with Him during the specific, designated time that you’ve set aside to spend with Him in prayer – at Mass, during devotional time at home, or however you most easily experience an awareness of His presence. (Ideally this would be done at the start of the day.) And then, once that awareness is established…
(2) Do what is needed to maintain and protect it throughout the remainder of day... the week… the month… and so on. Again, this connection is meant to become ceaseless, and while we may start with experiencing short durations at first, it’s something that we can learn to preserve longer and longer the more we practice it.
I’ll share some tips and pointers on how to protect that awareness in my next blog post, but until then, what do we do when inevitably that connection, or that awareness of God’s presence, gets lost?
I like to think of that awareness as something that I am carrying around with me throughout the day – like a little bundle or package – and if I happen to drop it for one reason or another, that doesn’t mean the rest of the day gets scrapped and I have to wait to start over in the morning with a fresh bundle. Instead, I ask myself the question, “Where did I drop it? Where do I remember last carrying that awareness of the Lord, and what caused me to lose it or set it down?” And then I go back to where I left it and simply pick it back up again.
Connectivity in Action
Let’s walk through a real-life example to illustrate this. Suppose I start the day off strong, with a deep sense of peace and my mind and heart fixed on the Lord, but by afternoon, I recognize I’m experiencing a sense of agitation or unrest. At this point, I pause and ask myself the question, “When did this agitation start? Was there something that caused me to lose that peace I had earlier in the day?” Suddenly I recall the phone call I had with customer service over my lunch break. I was doing great beforehand, but my frustration during that conversation caused me to lose my peace, and I exchanged it for agitation, which I’ve been carrying ever since. No worries – now I can simply go back and “pick up” that peace where I left it.
What this looks like is taking a moment to re-connect with the Lord in prayer. If any spiritual clean-up is needed, that can be done very simply through repentance: “Lord, I’m sorry for acting with anger and accusation during that conversation. Please forgive me for speaking unkindly to the representative on the phone.” If forgiveness on my part is necessary, that can be done simply as well: “In Jesus’ name, I forgive the representative for speaking with condescension toward me and for failing to handle my situation properly.” Or it might just be a matter of regaining my focus from distraction: “Lord, I allowed my experience of that conversation to pull my attention away from Your presence and place it on something else. Would You make Your presence known to me once again right now?” At this point, I can tune back in to His presence, inviting the Lord to come to the forefront of my awareness again, and continue on with my day in connection with Him.
All of this can be done in a matter of moments, and utilized as many times as needed throughout the day.
Once again, the ultimate goal for us is to establish and maintain an uninterrupted awareness of God’s presence as we navigate the ups and downs of our day-to-day lives, but this isn’t something that happens instantly; it’s something that we build toward in our relationship with Him. It’s definitely more of an art than a science, but this exercise is a strategy that can be implemented throughout the learning process. I’ve found that simply engaging in this practice cultivates a greater awareness of where I find myself placing my attention throughout the day, and that’s half the battle. From there, it’s simply a matter of choosing to re-center my focus on the Lord.
In my next post, I’ll provide some tips for protecting our awareness of the Lord by exercising healthy boundaries and practicing a mindfulness of our surroundings.