Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
I Am There
When alone, frightened, or grieving, sit quietly and let the indwelling presence address you in the second person — ‘I am there’ — until the felt sense shifts from abandoned to accompanied.
I Am There: When alone, afraid, or grieving, sit quietly and name the ache. Ask inwardly, “Do you need Me?” — and let the answer be spoken to you: “I am there.” When doubt or numbness rises, let the same words answer again — even when you feel most alone, I am there. The aim is to feel accompanied, not instructed. Rest in the nearness, then carry the line into the day. A comfort alongside human support and care, never instead of them.
What it is
“I Am There” is the poem James Dillet Freeman wrote in 1947 while his first wife was gravely ill — he later described the words arriving as if spoken to him: “Do you need Me?
I am there.” It is voiced not by the seeker but by the presence speaking back, in the first person, reassuring the listener of its constant nearness whether or not it is felt, believed, or seen.
This practice turns the poem into a contemplation: rather than affirming a truth in your own voice (as in affirmative prayer) or recognising an abstract omnipresence, you sit and let the presence address you — “I am there” — receiving comfort the way one receives words from someone who loves you.
Freeman’s distinctive note is the second-person consolation: the presence finds you, especially when you feel most alone.
The Method
Drawing on the poem (short verified quotes only):
- Sit and name the ache. Settle quietly, let the body soften, and acknowledge what you actually feel — alone, afraid, grieving. You do not pretend it away; you bring it.
- Ask the poem’s opening question, inwardly. Silently put Freeman’s question: “Do you need Me?” — letting yourself admit, yes.
- Let the answer be spoken to you. Receive the reply not as your own affirmation but as words said to you: “I am there.” Hold it as if a constant, caring presence is responding from within and around you.
- Stay through the doubts. Freeman’s poem insists the presence holds even when you cannot feel or trust it — “Even if you deny Me, I am there,” *“Even when you feel most alone, I am there.”* When doubt or numbness rises, let the same words answer it again.
- Feel accompanied, not instructed. The aim is not to receive guidance or a message but to feel kept company — the simple, settling sense of not being alone in this.
- Rest, then close gently. Sit in the felt nearness as long as it serves; close by carrying the line with you — I am there — into the rest of the day. (Sourcing note: the short phrases quoted are verbatim lines from Freeman’s “I Am There,” used as brief fair-use attribution; the numbered structure is an attributed paraphrase of contemplative practice with the poem, not a reproduction of the full poem.)
Source & Lineage
James Dillet Freeman (1912-2003), Unity’s “poet laureate,” wrote “I Am There” in 1947 during his wife Katherine’s illness; it became one of his two most beloved poems and was carried to the moon aboard Apollo 15 (1971).
It expresses Unity’s core conviction of the ever-present indwelling Spirit — the theology of Charles and Myrtle Fillmore — in the consoling voice of the presence itself.
The Traditions' versions
The move — grow quiet and let a constant, caring presence reassure you of its nearness — recurs widely; Freeman’s version is distinctive in giving the presence the first-person consoling voice (“I am there”) addressed to the lonely or grieving: - Brother Lawrence, practising the presence of God — continual companionable awareness of God through ordinary life; Freeman’s is the acute, consoling form for grief and fear.
- Myrtle Fillmore, realizing the indwelling life — resting in the indwelling Spirit as life and health; Freeman’s stress is on felt companionship rather than vitality.
- Dresser, realization of the immanent Spirit — New Thought contemplation of the indwelling presence.
- Psalm 23 / “I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” — the biblical assurance of an accompanying presence in the dark valley.
- Self-compassion / secure-base imagery (psychology) — evoking a constant, caring figure to soothe loneliness and distress.
Common refinements
Turning it into your own affirmation. The power here is receiving “I am there,” not declaring it; let it be spoken to you.
- Waiting for a message. This is companionship, not guidance; don’t strain to “hear” instructions or signs.
- Forcing a feeling. A quiet sense of “not alone” is enough; manufactured emotion isn’t the goal.
- Skipping the honest ache. Naming the real loneliness or fear first is what gives the reassurance something to land on.
- Using it to avoid people. Felt divine company is a comfort, not a replacement for reaching out to humans who can help.