Encountering God’s Awesome Beauty

An Encounters of the Fourth Kind Video

By Fr. Ron Will, CPPS

Welcome to the 11th episode in a series entitled “Encounters of the Fourth Kind.” I am Fr. Ron Will, a Missionary of the Precious Blood, serving at Precious Blood Renewal Center in Liberty, Missouri.

Just to refresh your memory for the context of this series, titled “Encounters of the Fourth Kind”:

• An encounter of the first kind is a sighting of a disk-like object in the distance.
• An encounter of the second kind is similar but much closer than the first kind.
• An encounter of the third kind is the sighting of non-human beings.
• An encounter of the fourth kind is the actual encounter of human beings and non-human beings up close.

In today’s episode, we will have an encounter between you and the divine, the creator of the universe.

This series invites you to go deeper into your relationship with God, to plunge into that deeper relationship. It is an invitation to enter the divine embrace.

The earth from outer space

I’m sure that you have seen this picture of our earth taken from outer space. The earth is a beautiful blue ball against the darkness of outer space. The picture is simple, but so beautiful; it’s awesome actually. Just gaze at it for a minute. (pause)

The full moon and stars

You have also seen pictures taken, or actually seen firsthand yourself, the bright moon and stars in the distant sky on a dark night. Gaze on this picture for a minute. (pause)

A distant galaxy

With the James A. Webb telescope we can look beyond the moon and the stars which we can see from earth. You probably have seen pictures like this one during the past year, since the new telescope was launched into space. Just gaze for a minute. (pause)

Notice the vastness, the beauty of outer space. As you admire the beauty of the night sky, allow gratitude to God the creator to arise in your heart. (pause)

Then become aware that the creator of all this is standing beside you, appreciating how much you notice His beautiful creation.

It’s like an artist standing in the back of a room in an art gallery, watching a visitor admire his painting and excitedly discussing it with a friend. The artist feels gratitude as the visitor enjoys and delights in the work of art. (pause)

As you continue to admire the vastness of God’s creation and his concerns, realize that God still knows you as an individual, and knows you by name. And he is present to you personally.

God our heavenly Father, you are so imaginative, so amazing as a creator. You could have created our world in black and white, with dull grays. But no, you chose to create splendid designs … including each one of us. (pause)

You are having an encounter of the fourth kind; not just the sighting from a distance, but the actual personal encounter of a human being (yourself) and a non-human being (God).

Continue to sit in silence for a couple minutes and continue to experience that encounter. Savor it.

Then join me again next month, for another “Close Encounter of the Fourth Kind.” In the meantime, may God bless you.

All of the videos in this series can be found here: Encounters of the Fourth Kind.

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[Fr. Ron Will, a Precious Blood priest and spiritual director, is a graduate of Catholic Theological Union and Creighton University’s School of Christian Spirituality. He has a special interest in helping form intentional disciples of Jesus, encouraging others to go spiritually deep-sea diving to explore a deeper relationship with God, and walking with people as they dive into the ocean of God’s mystery actually experiencing God rather than simply dipping one’s toe into the water.]

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