Near, but not enough

Writer Anne Lamott tells of a friend who was on a trip with her two-year-old and how the toddler inadvertently locked himself in his room at the rental property.

The Mom struggled vainly to get the door unlocked --- trying a few keys she knew weren't the right ones, phoning around to get the landlord. Finally someone was reached and on the way, but there was still a frightened little boy to deal with as they waited for rescue, and his reasoning and verbal skills being minimal, he would not understand the nearness of his deliverance.

So Mom got the bright idea to get down on her knees on her side of the door and slip her fingers underneath in the inch or so gap between door and floor, and she asked the unconsolable child to do the same. He would not be able to see his mother's face until the savior bearing keys arrived, but the feel of her presence through her fingertips while they waited provided some comfort and sense that everything would be alright.

This is like our relationship with God. For now we are bereft of his full presence, for reasons not entirely clear. But he holds out his fingers and I hold out mine, as we touch through his Word and his Spirit every morning. Like Anne says, "It isn't enough. And it is."