A Gentle Christian Abiding Practice

There Is This … And GOD

I Am of GOD: a practice of truth, divine presence, sacred belonging, and loving response.

These words may hold a deep and gentle wisdom. They do not require us to deny pain, force calm, explain why something happened, or pretend to know God’s hidden purposes. They allow us to tell the truth about this moment and then remember that this moment—and this person living through it—need not be understood as abandoned by God.

“There is this” is honest awareness. “And GOD” is open presence. “I am of GOD” is sacred belonging. “May Love guide what comes next” is faithful response.

What “There Is This … And GOD” May Mean

1. “There is this …” — recognizing reality

The opening words are spacious. “This” may be fear, grief, anger, pain, joy, uncertainty, another person, a difficult conversation, or simply the ordinary fact of being alive.

The phrase does not begin with judgment: “This is terrible,” “I should not feel this,” or “I must get rid of this.” It begins with a modest truth: something is here. This resembles your practice of impersonal noting. It can loosen the tight identity of “I am fear” into the gentler recognition “There is fear” or, when naming feels too sharp, simply “There is this.”

Christian prayer also has room for this honesty. The Psalms voice sorrow and protest before turning toward trust, and in Gethsemane Jesus names deep grief and asks that the cup be removed before yielding his will to the Father. Faithful prayer is therefore not emotional pretending; it can include anguish, desire, trust, and surrender together. See Psalm 13 and Mark 14:32–36.

2. “And …” — the healing conjunction

The word and is the quiet hinge of the whole practice. It does not argue with the first half. It does not say, “There is pain, but I should be spiritual,” or “There is fear, but God will make it disappear.” It allows two truths to be held at once:

• This experience is really here.
• God may also be here, even when God is not felt.

That is the spiritual wisdom of inclusion. The pain does not have to become good. A harmful act does not become acceptable. Yet pain is no longer the only reality being remembered.

3. “GOD” — presence larger than the problem

In Scripture, Paul describes God as the giver of “life and breath and all things,” not far from any of us, and the One in whom we live and have our being. Psalm 139 places even darkness, distance, and vulnerability within God’s searching presence. These texts do not promise that believers always feel safe or calm. They proclaim that divine nearness is deeper than changing sensation. See Acts 17:24–28 and Psalm 139:7–18.

Writing GOD in capitals may serve as a visual bow—an intentional pause before the Holy. It is not the capitalization that makes the prayer sacred; it is the sincerity, humility, and love with which the word is offered.

4. “I am of GOD” — receiving sacred belonging

The wording is close to biblical language. First John says, “You are from God” and “We are from God.” John’s Gospel speaks of becoming children of God and being “born of God.” Paul speaks of adoption and of the Spirit bearing witness that we are God’s children. See 1 John 4:4–6, John 1:12–13, and Romans 8:14–16.

Christian traditions also speak of sharing in divine life. The Catholic Catechism describes people as invited by grace to share divine life and become “partakers of the divine nature.” Eastern Orthodox teaching calls this theosis: genuine communion with God’s life and action by grace, without claiming that a human being becomes God’s unknowable essence. See the Compendium of the Catechism and the Orthodox Church in America’s account of Saint Gregory Palamas.

So the phrase can mean: “My life is received from God; my deepest home is in God; and I am called to let God’s love take form through this particular human life.”

Why This Practice May Be Important

It gives suffering company without explaining it away

In a painful moment, the mind often narrows until the pain seems to be everything. “And GOD” gently widens the field. It does not answer why the suffering occurred or declare that God caused it. It remembers companionship within uncertainty. Jesus’ assurance, “I am with you always,” offers presence rather than a promise of an uncomplicated life. See Matthew 28:20.

It moves identity from isolation toward belonging

“I am of GOD” may answer a deep human wound: I am alone, unwanted, or without a home. The phrase does not erase our need for trustworthy human relationship. It places that need within a larger sacred belonging: I am received before I perform; I am held even when another person misunderstands me; my worth is not decided by this one conflict.

It joins contemplation with character

First John gives a practical test for spiritual language: “God is love,” and abiding in love is bound to God abiding in us. Sacred belonging is therefore not spiritual status. Its credibility appears in how we live—with truth, mercy, patience, repair, courage, justice, and wise boundaries. See 1 John 4:7–16.

It may support a less combative relationship with inner experience

From a psychological perspective, “There is this” resembles acceptance and present-moment awareness. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy describes acceptance as aware openness to thoughts and feelings when fighting them is harmful, joined to action guided by values. This offers a plausible human explanation for why the words may feel spacious: they change the relationship to an experience rather than demanding its immediate removal. See the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science’s overview of psychological flexibility.

Research on putting feelings into words is mixed. Some experimental work found that affect labeling reduced aspects of physiological fear responding, while other studies found that naming an emotion immediately before trying to regulate it could make regulation harder. This supports a gentle choice: use “There is fear” when naming steadies you; use the broader “There is this” when a precise label feels constricting. See Kircanski and colleagues and the contrasting findings from Nook and colleagues.

It can become positive religious coping—but not a guaranteed cure

A meta-analysis of 49 studies found that positive forms of religious coping were generally related to better adjustment to stress, while negative forms tended to relate to poorer adjustment. Later work also links negative religious coping—such as feeling punished or abandoned by God—with psychological symptoms. The lesson is not “prayer always calms.” It is that the way faith is held matters. A benevolent, honest, non-punitive practice is wiser than using God’s name to shame or frighten yourself. See Ano and Vasconcelles and a later meta-analytic review.

How to Practice Deeply

The Four Movements of Sacred Belonging

A three-breath version

Repeat gently up to three times. Let the breath remain natural; do not strain or hold it. After the third repetition, rest in silence for several breaths. Allow calm, tears, tension, numbness, doubt, or no noticeable change. The practice is an act of relationship, not a test you must pass.

A five-minute daily practice

1. Arrive for one minute. Notice the support beneath the body and let the face and hands be as they are.
2. Recognize for one minute. Say, “There is this.” Notice sensation without demanding an explanation.
3. Open for one minute. Say, “And GOD.” Imagine no special image unless one naturally helps.
4. Receive for one minute. Say, “I am of GOD,” or “I belong to God.” Let the words come toward you as a blessing.
5. Respond for one minute. Ask, “What would love have me do next?” End with one simple intention.

A deeper twenty-minute practice

1. Settle the body for three minutes.
2. Remain with “There is this” for four minutes.
3. Remain with “And GOD” for four minutes.
4. Remain with “I am of GOD” for four minutes.
5. Rest wordlessly for three minutes.
6. Close with two minutes of listening: “May Love guide my next faithful step.”

If the sequence becomes effortful, use only one phrase. Brother Lawrence’s classic practice was not built on intensity but on returning to God frequently during ordinary work, distraction, and recreation. See his Tenth Letter on practicing God’s presence.

Phrases for Daily Life

When an emotion is clear

• There is fear … and GOD.
• There is anger … and GOD.
• There is grief … and GOD.
• There is loneliness … and GOD.
• There is joy … and GOD.

When another person is present in the mind

• There is Andrew … and GOD.
• There is this relationship … and GOD.
• Andrew is Andrew. Ross is Ross. Both belong within God’s care.
• God of truth and love, guide my boundary and my heart.

This does not require contact, reconciliation, or agreement. Sometimes the loving action is distance, a clear boundary, or declining to argue.

When the body hurts

• There is pain … and GOD.
• This body is hurting … and this body belongs to God.
• God, abide with me while I seek the care I need.

When faith feels uncertain

• There is doubt … and perhaps GOD.
• There is silence … and I remain open.
• God, I cannot feel You; receive my willingness.
• I belong to Love, even here.

For ordinary moments

• There is washing … and GOD.
• There is breakfast … and GOD.
• There is work … and GOD.
• There is rest … and GOD.
• There is this life … and GOD.

Discernment: How to Keep the Practice Wise

A Simple Test of Spiritual Truth

After practicing for several days, do not ask only, “Did this make me feel peaceful?” Also ask:

• Am I becoming more honest about what is here?
• Am I a little less ashamed of being human?
• Am I more willing to receive wise help?
• Am I clearer about loving boundaries?
• Am I becoming kinder without becoming passive?
• Does “I am of GOD” help me remember that others are also sacred and never merely objects for my use?

Peace may come, but love is the deeper measure.

Closing Blessing

Research Note

This practice is a contemporary synthesis, not a quotation from Scripture or a claim that one phrase belongs to every Christian tradition. Its central themes—God’s nearness, becoming children of God, abiding in divine love, honest lament, participation by grace, and recollection of God in ordinary life—are well established in the sources linked throughout this page. Psychological research can illuminate possible benefits of acceptance, naming, meaning, and benevolent religious coping, but it cannot verify a theological claim or promise a particular emotional result.

Selected Sources

• Acts 17:24–28, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
• Psalm 139:7–18, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
• 1 John 4:4–16, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
• Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Vatican.
• Saint Gregory Palamas: Essence and Energies, Orthodox Church in America.
• The Practice of the Presence of God, Tenth Letter, Brother Lawrence.
• The Six Core Processes of ACT, Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.
• Religious Coping and Psychological Adjustment to Stress: A Meta-analysis, Ano and Vasconcelles.
• Feelings Into Words, Kircanski and colleagues.
• Emotion Naming and Later Regulation, Nook and colleagues.

Continue Gently

Suggested internal links—confirm each slug before publishing:

• Start Here — a gentle introduction to the site.
• Abiding Practices — short phrases for daily life.
• Practicing the Presence of God — bringing prayer into ordinary moments.
• Gentle Reflections — presence without fixing.
• About This Site — the purpose and spirit of this work.

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