God resides in His creations

Where is God? A likely response might be, “In heaven.”

The artists’ depiction of heaven and, especially Christ’s ascension into heaven, show Him in the sky surrounded by clouds. This leads us to believe that heaven is, “Up there somewhere.” But, that may not be the correct location.

Holy men and women of various faiths believe in the omnipresence of God and that he is especially present within each person.

The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” Perhaps the ingestion of the bread and wine that had been blessed into His body and blood during the Last Supper was to reinforce the concept that God permeates the innermost part of our being. Instead of having just a remembrance of His words and deeds as someone who once lived on earth, He is believed to reside within us, as close as our beating heart.

In the l6th century, St. Francis De Sales wrote, “Not only is God in the place where you are, but He is, in a most particular manner, in your heart and in the very center of your spirit.” In the 19th century, Swami Vivekananda said, “It is the God within your own self that is compelling you to seek Him, to realize Him.”

During a program that Rabbi Franklin Muller of Congregation Rodef Sholom presented locally, he commented on the mystical idea of God by quoting Hasidic texts that point out how, “God is in everything. God is around us, inside us, and everything in the world.” Irenaeus, an early Christian father, had a similar point of view when he said, “God sleeps in a stone, dreams in a flower, moves in an animal and wakes in man.” A passage in the Koran reads, “To God belongs the East and the West; whichever way you turn, the Face of God is there.

On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on our country, the PBS TV series, “Frontline,” aired a program consisting of interviews with persons directly affected by the events of that day. Reporters asked persons to respond to the same question, “Where was God when this happened?”

Some people had worked in the buildings, some were first responders, and some thought their lives had been miraculously spared while others had lost loved ones. Their answers were interestingly varied, from an intense realization of the presence of a comforting God to the comment, “There must not be a God or He would have prevented this from happening.”

Tragedy and human suffering occur as a result of the destructive forces of nature, the actions of others, both intentional and accidental, and through our illnesses or the life choices we make. Some people, like the biblical Job, have more than a fair share of problems heaped upon them while others appear to be living the good life.

Mystics and individuals that have an awareness of the presence of God in their lives seem to be more accepting of suffering than the rest of us. Author August Gold writes, “Everything that happens to you, happens for you. Perhaps even the things that challenge you the most serve the greater purpose of your soul. Learn how to accept it all without judgment.”

A British l2th-century nun, Julian of Norwich, counseled those that came to her for help from her cell within the town’s cathedral. Her parting words to each individual was always, “All is well, and all will be well.” When someone is hurting deeply, it is hard to believe that statement as being true.

It isn’t that the mystic is insensitive to the depth of the person’s pain or is being overly optimistic, it is that the mystic has a wider perspective of existence beyond life on earth. They know that our suffering here is a short temporary condition compared to our eternal life. The French philosopher, Teilhard de Chardin would often say to people, “Remember, you are a spiritual person having a human experience.”

Perhaps we will not fully understand why things happen the way they do until, as poet T.S. Eliot says, “…we arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

The artists who depicted God in His heavenly kingdom among the clouds may not have pinpointed the exact location of heaven but the image does provide an acceptable metaphor. God is an invisible being far superior than any mundane earth form yet does reside in all of His creation. The presence of God within us is fundamental to our nature.

Mead Rose, an author of the book, “Transforming through 2012,” writes, “I believe that spending more time turning your senses nward and connecting with your fundamental nature … might be one of the most crucial, the most important, things you can do.”

Dr. Agnes Martinko is a member of St. Edward Church in Youngstown.