Living with others is inconvenient. You do things differently than you would if you were alone. When there is someone in the room with you, they inhabit part of your physical space. You walk around them. You try to be considerate of their preferences. You respect their time. These things are obvious to us when it comes to people we can see, not so much for the one whom we cannot see.
Living with God is inconvenient, but like living with other people, it is also rewarding. When God inhabits space in our life, that space, in turn, becomes Holy. It becomes a beacon in the tangible world, of a God who is everywhere, but unseen. It makes Him visible to others, but also to ourselves. Because we so easily forget the people and things that we don't see right in front of us.
If what we are interacting with is real, then our actions need to have consistency. We cannot act as if God is there some of the time, and put him aside whenever it is convenient. We must allow him to interrupt and impose on our life until his presence becomes a natural part of it. Until the stream of our daily activity flows around him as naturally as a river does around a large stone.
And, holiness cannot simply present an inconvenience to other people, and leave my own life unaffected. After all, we are making space for God, not for ourselves. If the things I do inconvenience others, but have no effect on my own actions the only thing that will become tangible to others is my own will. And I will certainly not benefit from an awareness of God's presence either.
