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Yesterday I took the dog for a walk.  Just me and him.  No phone, music or podcasts.  The quarantine at times leaves me feeling unmotivated.  I needed the fresh air and the silence that would help me to become more aware of God’s presence.  

I needed to be rejuvenated in God

and I was hopeful that the silent walk to discover more of Him would be the first step.

As I began to walk I made it a point to be aware of the trees, the homes, squirrels and birds that were surrounding me.  

A walking prayer can be much like the prayers we 

engage in when we just want to sit silently with 

God in His presence.  

With both at first we may find ourselves talking in order to be aware of God.  After the initial time, I honestly do not remember what I was thinking of at all.  I like to compare it to sitting quietly with God or, as some refer to it as, losing time with God.  A time when eventually all our senses are stilled and we are lost in God.  I was about ten minutes or less from being back home when suddenly I was pulled out of the quiet by a horn.  It was a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.  An actual person in the midst of the pandemic quarantine.  He got out of his car and being mindful of social distancing we talked and laughed.  It was truly refreshing.  Even Bosco had an unexpected surprise.  Our friend’s surprise visit came complete with dog treats. 

Later on in the night as I was reviewing my day, 

I realized that the sudden encounter with my friend was an annunciation.  

I wanted to be rejuvenated with God and I began the desire by entering into a prayer of actively noticing His presence.  I was opened.  I had given my yes.

We experience annunciation moments all the time.  

We just fail to notice them.  We are going along with our day and are interrupted by something or someone.  Instantly we judge it to be good or bad.  We either welcome the interruption with open arms or grumble at it for taking us away from what we were doing.  We seldom think of it as an annunciation, a visit from God.  

We can become more aware of annunciation moments with three steps.

• Pray – Prayer must be a habit.  It helps us to get to know God so we can recognize when the interruptions are annunciations from Him or temptations meant to ultimately steer us away from Him.  Mary was always praying and pondering all things in her heart.  When the Angel Gabriel came, he presented her with a scenario that could lead to her being stoned to death.  Being betrothed to one man, not married, and yet seemingly pregnant from another was against the Jewish laws.  On the surface it could appear that the message was not from God, but because Mary had union with God due to her prayer life, she knew it was Him.  It is very important to have a prayer life if you want to recognize when an interruption in your life is an annunciation or temptation.  It doesn’t have to be an earth shattering annunciation.  Mine during my walk certainly was not.  Prayer helps you to recognize the small annunciations and those that may appear to be life altering.  

• Be Open –   We all have been given the gift of free will.  If you chose not to be open, you will not see.  The brain is very powerful and God designed it to aid us in hearing Him.  It is designed to be like a computer that we program.  If we want to figure out a problem, our brain seems to lead us to the solution.  If we don’t think a solution is possible, our brain will see we are successful in failing.  Some see that as positive or negative thinking.  While that is definitely an accurate explanation, it can be misleading if it is thought of in worldly terms.  In faith, positive and negative thinking are ways of exercising our free will.  If you say yes to God’s desires for you, you will see how He directs you.  If you say no, you will not see.  In a sense, both paths are God’s desires for you in the sense that He first and foremost gave you the gift of free will.  This is not a recipe for getting what you want from the power of positive thinking as some prescribe to.  Nor is this an exercise in asking for signs as the enemy can give signs too.  This is just a recipe for being open to seeing God so you may know Him more fully, recognize Him in your life and be able to give Him your yes just as Mary did. 

• Gratitude – Giving thanks and having appreciation for the annunciation moments will lead to a greater  awareness of other annunciation moments as well.   More opportunities to be aware of God coming to you will not be as easy if you aren’t thankful for them when you do see them.  Both gratitude and the lack of it are ways of exercising our free will.  Gratitude is a way of saying yes to God.  If we are not thankful, it is a way for our free will to say no thanks.  I think most would prefer to have an increased awareness of the presence of God and that can more easily happen when we say thank you for the times that we do see Him. 

Prayerfully reflect on where you are in these three steps. 

Prayer:  Prayer is the most important step.  Being open and having gratitude cannot stand alone without prayer because our  aim is to recognize when it is God and when it is not.  It is hard to recognize a stranger and it is only through prayer that we grow in a relationship with God.  Do you take time to pray daily?  Try and make it your goal to pray 30 minutes a day.  If it is hard to sit for that long, break it down to 10-15 minutes at a time until you reach the 30 minutes.  

Being Open:  Are you mindful of your thoughts?  Are you more of a positive thinker filled with the virtue of hope or a negative thinker filled with defeat?  Notice your thoughts and if they are negative, try and stop yourself from engaging in that way of thinking.  Reframe your thoughts to those that are positive and filled with hope.  Avoid the temptation to think that this is a way of getting worldly things.  This is a way of getting only one thing…more of God.  At the end of the day, reflect on how your are doing with this.

Gratitude:  Do you practice gratitude?  If not start making it a point to daily write down at least three things that you were grateful for in your day.  Also start out each day writing at least three things in your upcoming day that you are looking forward to.  In the morning coffee may be the first thing on many lists! 

Pray about these steps and try practicing them and see, if in time, you become more aware of God’s presence in your life and His annunciation moments.