The word ‘presence’ is not used often, but it is an experience we have every day. Being with someone in the same space is very important and valuable. If your heart is somewhere else, it is not a true presence even when you are near. If your heart is always turned toward someone even when you are far away, that is also presence.
I once confessed to believers after returning from a long period of study abroad: “I have been away from my home country, but I have never forgotten you, Korean believers, even for a moment.”
We know this even without saying it in words. People live in presence. Babies cry to ask for something from their mothers, but isn’t it actually a sign that they are thirsting for their mothers’ presence?
When someone gets seriously ill, they often become discouraged and lose their will to live. When treatment is not effective, and they feel close to death, they fall into a deep depression. Isn’t it someone else's presence allowing them to endure difficult times? The fact that someone is by my side and that someone remembers me gives me strength and hope and makes today meaningful.
In the recently aired documentary, Dr. Bae Hyeon-jeong from Belgium said about hospice: “It’s a place to end one’s life, but it’s not a place to come to die, but a place to live well together until that moment.” Hospice ministry is about helping to preserve human dignity until the last moment.
I also spent my last moments with my mother in a hospice ward. It’s not easy to decide to go to a hospice ward because it’s usually thought of as a place to die, but I remember that my mother and her family spent the most beautiful moments of their lives there together. Presence means being together until death. Presence has the power to connect with each other beyond death. Presence that willingly gives up one’s life saves each other and allows us to dream of hope.
I think about Jesus's presence. He was with the poorest and most marginalized, suffering and wounded. His presence spoke tender words, a touch, and a look. Jesus was with the most abandoned on the cross, praying for them. So where was the Father at that moment? Wasn’t he with his Son in quiet silence?
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), no one was by his side when the younger son wasted all he had and was tending pigs. What he desperately wanted was someone’s presence. When he came to his senses, he returned to his father. The father saw his son from a distance and ran to him. The father never left his son for a moment. He was always present with his son. That loving presence brought the son back and saved him.
Just as the father never left his younger son for a moment, God never left us for a moment. God’s name is presence because He is always present in us. He is with us more deeply, especially when we suffer from illness and are troubled by death. Because Jesus experienced it all, He can stay with us more deeply, comforting and encouraging us.
Am I conscious of the Lord’s presence? Am I sharing my existence and staying with someone? I believe that these questions will add depth to our lives.
