Through most of my faith journey the question I have wrestled with is ‘Who is God?’ This seemed to me the fundamental question to ask.
In recent years though, a different – but related – question has been troubling me. The question is ‘Where is God?’
Much of the Bible presents us with a ‘vertical theology’. We are on the earth, and God is above us in heaven. And religious institutions (Temple/Church, priesthood/pastors, sacrifices/worship, etc.) are established in an attempt to bridge this gap.
Society in general seems to be growing tired of these vertical relationships. The bottom part of the pyramid is crying out for a new structure, as it suspects – often correctly – that the top of the pyramid doesn’t always have their best interests at heart.
And this discontent is affecting people’s view of religion and spirituality. The rise of the ‘spiritual but not religious’ group is in part a rejection of this vertical theology and the religious institutions that it gave birth to.
It seems to me that Jesus challenged this Old Testament vertical theology. Through his teaching and lifestyle he demonstrated that we no longer have to go to the temple, because Jesus is the temple, and with his Spirit in us, so are we. We no longer need a priest to stand before God on our behalf, because Jesus is the high priest and with his spirit in us we’re all priests. And used in God’s service, any object can become sacred, even mud and spit (Jn. 9:6). In fact Jesus said at one point that through his ministry his followers would see heaven opened (Jn. 1:51). There would no longer be a need for a holy elevator.
So for Jesus, where was God? At the meal table, on a mountain, talking with friends, telling stories, and serving the poor and marginalised. Jesus had a horizontal theology. To him, everything was spiritual, if we just have eyes to see it.
Of course this informs our answer to the question ‘who is God?’. Is God the transcendent, distant, other worldly, spiritual ruler who we struggle to reach through religious ritual? Or is he the immanent, intimate, comforter, companion and friend, who is closer to us that we are to ourselves? I believe Jesus showed us that God is the latter.
So how do we gain the eyes to see this God in the mess of our lives and the mess of this world? I’ve been trying out the ancient Ignatian practice of The Daily Examen. It simply involves regularly taking 5 minutes and reflecting on the day just gone. Then simply asking the questions ‘where was God today?’, ‘where did I see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?’, ‘where did I see good coming out of a bad situation?’ Then simply give God thanks.
It’s a deceptively simple exercise, but one which if regularly practiced can begin to help us answer the question ‘where is God?’
Tim