Closer Than My Name

What... Is your name? Don't say it... Yet. [Long silence] ... Just notice... You know... The answer. ... Now... Say it... Quietly... Inside. ... There it is. Your name. But something... Was here... Before... You said it. ... Something... Knew... The name. You weren't born... Knowing it. Someone... Gave it... To you. They repeated it. Called you...By it. And slowly... You learned... When that sound... Was spoken... They meant... You. ... But before... You recognized... The sound... Were you... Less alive? Were you... Less present? Were you... Less... You? ... So... Which came first? You? Or... Your name? ... We've spent... So much of life... Searching... For God. Looking... Up. Looking... Out. Looking... Somewhere... Beyond ourselves. Trying... To become... Close... To God. ... But Scripture says... "In him... We live... And move... And have... Our being." Our... Being. ... Then how far... Could God... Be... From the Being... That is...Here? ... Scripture says... "Whither shall I go... From thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee... From thy presence?" ... Where... Would you go... To find... What you cannot... Leave? Which direction... Would you travel... Toward... Omnipresence? ... Maybe... The search itself... Contained... An assumption. That God... Was somewhere... You were not. But what if... There has never been... A distance... To cross? What if... God isn't... At the end... Of the search? ... What if... The searching... Is happening... Within... The very Presence... Being searched for? ... Before... Your name... There was... I AM. Before...Your story... There was... I AM. Before... Your beliefs... There was... I AM. Before... You learned... The word... God... There was... Being. ... And Scripture says... God told Moses... "I AM...THAT I AM." ... Don't turn that... Into a conclusion. Just notice... The strange... Closeness... Of the words. ... You cannot say... Your name... Without first... Being. You cannot think... About God... Without first... Being. You cannot search...For Spirit... Without first... Being. Being... Is already... Here. [Music begins thinning] So perhaps... Before asking...Where is God... There is... A quieter... Question. What is...Closer... To you...Than your own... Name? ... Your breath? Closer. Your thoughts? You notice them. Your body? You notice that too. ... What about... The simple fact...That... You are? ... No distance. No journey. No searching. Just... I AM. Could what... You have been... Searching for... Be closer... Than the name... Of the one... Doing the searching? Don't answer. Before the answer... Appears... Notice... What is... Already... Here. Notice... What remains.