Where is God?

I asked some children once where they thought that God is. One said “up in the sky.” One said “in the ground.” I then reminded them that we say in the Trisagion Prayers God is “everywhere present and fillest all things.” So, in a way, both of their answers are true, but they are not complete answers. The point is that since God is everywhere, He is not far away. He is no further away from us than the thickness or our own skin. He created all things, fills all things, and sustains all thing. So He is with us at all times. I told the Children “He is with you when you are on the playground, or when you are sitting in the car, or when you are walking down the street.” But it does beg the question, if he is so near us why do we not see him?

Of course, there was a time when people could see Him and talk with Him face to face: the incarnation. Jesus came into the world. He created the world, but then he became a part of the world while remaining uncreated. How is that possible? I explained it to the Children by analogy. Let’s say they made a city with the lego pieces, and then they pretend to be a lego person. What do you think the other lego people are going to say? Some of the lego people might say “You’re not a little kid, you’re just a piece of plastic like us!” But whereas a child can only pretend, God actually did this. He became part of His creation, and some of the people He met could not believe it, which is why they crucified Him.

We also believe that Jesus will come again, as we say in the Creed. In the meantime what do we do? We can’t see Him but He is very near us, as are the saints, angels, and demons, for as it says in Hebrews “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb.12:1). As we are in Divine Liturgy, singing the Thrice Holy Hymn, the saints and angels are there invisibly present with us, and participating with us in the heavenly worship. The veil between the seen and unseen parts of reality is thinner than a piece of paper. Largely because the veil is so thin, it is possible to interact with both the seen and unseen parts of reality. The Divine Liturgy is just one example. The icons not only provide visible reminders of the saints invisibly present with us, but in way the icons manifest the presence of the saints. When we stand in front of an icon of a saint it is rather like we are standing directly in front of that saint, even if we are not aware of it.

We may not be able to see the invisible part of reality right now, but it is possible to become more aware of it or at the very least to prepare ourselves for the eventual day when the veil is lifted. The biggest obstacle, however, is sin. Sin clouds our spiritual vision and it clouds our judgement. So, we must come to grips with our own sin. We must confess our sins. The more we confess, the more sin we are able to see in ourselves. Hopefully we see not only sin, but also the image of God in us. We were created in the image and likeness of God, even if that image is tarnished by sin. God gave different people different gifts. To some he gives in abundance and to others he gives a little, just as in the parable of the talents (Mt 25:14-30). But no matter how much was given to us, we must remember that they are gifts. We must not take those gifts for granted, and we must try to use them as God intended. To see ourselves clearly is to see our gifts as gifts, to see our dependence on the creator of all, to see our own sins, to see the negative effect that our sins have had on ourselves and on others around us, and to see what we really need to be doing to not sin and to fulfill God’s purpose for us to the best of our abilities. Even after all of that, there is no guarantee that a person would develop an awareness of the invisible part of reality, for even that is gift. But at the very least, our actions in this life would be carried out with a constant eye on the next life, in preparation for it.