My deepest desire and most longing want is to see the face of Jesus Christ. Based on one of the Beatitudes, my daily prayer is for God to purify my heart so that I may see Him, see Him in others, and for others to see Him in me.
I often think or imagine or sense that I can see Jesus in others within their joy and laughter, in their bright shining eyes and smiles, and in their moments of spiritual consolation.
And although it is not my preference, I am far more certain that I see Jesus in others within their suffering and sorrow, in their tears and pain, and in their moments of desolation.
Christ is everywhere, in joy and sorrow, in laughter and tears, in peace and anger, in excitement and boredom, in certainly and doubts, in trusts and fears, in noise and silence, in known and unknown, in hope and despair, in love and hate, in heaven and hell. God is in the and/both, not the either/or—everywhere! Paradox and opposites become doorways to awareness of the presence of God.
Father, please teach me not to limit myself to any notions of who or what or where You are.