Where Is God? Look Within

Mystery is a normal part of every life. Mystery confronts us with the unknown, with puzzles to be solved. Modern mysteries proliferate on television and movies and, eventually, supply missing facts and rational answers. Uncertainty dissolves; the puzzle is solved. That’s that…

Not so with God, our Creator, the most beguiling, impenetrable Mystery of all.

One of God’s many inexplicable traits which boggles the mind is that God is present everywhere in the universe. To the skeptic, this Mystery is absurd: “If God is everywhere, why can't I see or touch Him?" Why does He allow suffering? Where is this God of yours?”

These challenges are rooted in human nature’s striving for rationally satisfying, logically coherent answers to every mystery. However, universal experience tells us that explanations to life’s mysteries are often lacking. Nonetheless, skeptics persist (often militantly) in their quest to know what is not of our limited human nature.

Limits

God has a particular Nature and we have a particular nature. The two natures - Divine and human - are not co-equal. We do not exist in God’s realm. We do not think as God thinks.

This gap between Creator and His creatures (us) is beyond comprehension. Yet some persons still push for clarity. When clarity is not forthcoming, they reject religious faith … and God.

So, our desire to know the ins-and-outs of mystery is fundamental to human nature, but our lack of sufficient facts about countless events is constant. Clearly, we do not know everything and cannot control everyone, even ourselves. We are born into a plethora of unknowable realities; ambiguity is a given.

Why, then, do some people ignore universal human limitations?

Because our power of human reason is often side-tracked into fruitless searches for answers to impenetrable mysteries of Creation. Often enough, the reasonable answer is an act of faith in one another or, in some instances, an act of religious Faith.

Indeed, acts of faith and putting our trust in others are common (e.g., freeway driving) but, for the self-righteous skeptic, acts of religious Faith and putting our trust in God are out of the question.

The Role Of Humility

Every act of religious Faith begins with the Virtue of Humility. Indeed, St. Augustine held that Humility was basic to all other Virtues.

Humility has been greatly misunderstood and badly portrayed in our culture. The humble person is usually seen as weak, hat in hand, eyes cast downward, kicking the dust in silent admission of his deserved inferiority.

This is, to be sure, nonsense.

Humility is courageously accepting the facts (not the prettified fallacies) about ourselves. It is facing reality, not delighting in fantasy. Humility insists that we admit truths about ourselves and others, even if/when truth hurts.

And why does truth sometimes hurt?

Because we protect our self-image. Our wayward sense of pride tends to bolster the oft-errant adulation of our ego. We often work quite hard at avoiding, not embracing, the truth about ourselves.

The Virtue of Humility is the ideal response to our nature’s self-indulgent dialogues. Why? Because Humility augments our Faith and our trust in God. Humility enhances human nature. Humility requires and bestows strength, not weakness. And believers know that the truth leads us to a new and blessed life.

Born To It

Whether we admit it or not, we are born with a need for Humility, i.e., a profound need (1) to admit the truth to ourselves, then (2) to manage the perplexing tensions between the truth and the games which our bruised ego inevitably plays.

Furthermore, we are born to embrace the Mysteries of Creation, God, self and others. As created beings, we are freely given our gifts and talents. Our Creator’s generosity to us is beyond comprehension. Given this truth, our task is to adjust our thoughts and our behavior to this reality for a lifetime with gratitude and trust. And that’s where the Virtue of Humility is essential.

All Virtues are habits we can develop to control our thoughts and behavior … but we must work to develop them. The Virtue of Humility is an acquired habit which takes effort to attain. It doesn’t come easily; accepting truths about ourselves is a life-long struggle. But Humility affords us Wisdom to understand the ways in which our unchecked ego hides truth from us.

Humility tells us to embrace Mystery, to be honest and truthful with ourselves and others, to have the good sense to stop deluding ourselves, to befriend ourselves, as God has done.

An Example

Indeed, our friendship with God is comparable to that blessed moment when our weary child nestles trustingly in our arms for a nap. As we gratefully embrace the child, we are immersed into a rare moment of reverie and tranquility. We do not ask why the child sleeps; we only rejoice that the child chooses to sleep in our arms.

At such times of unquestioned serenity, we are rightly overwhelmed by the peace of not having to know anything more than the innocence of this loving now. And we see that truth is its own reward.

At such times, the truth which Humility honors and the trust in our Creator which Humility grants us serve as our glimpse into the friendship of God, Whom we can never fully comprehend and (truth be told) need not.

Search For Meaning

So, to sum up: Our God-given gift of curiosity inclines us to want to know as much as we can in this life … but … there are limits which we must respect. Surely, it is good to pursue understanding when it may be had … but … at some point, we are wise to admit our limitations and accept the boundaries of our humanity.

We humans are sometimes incomprehensible even to ourselves. Our real task in this life (made difficult by ego’s wayward urges) is not to master what we clearly cannot master, but to control what we can, starting with ourselves.

Our best response is Humility, the doorway to self-restraint, peace of mind and contentment of spirit, to charitable forbearance of others whom we may love or, in some cases, whom we dislike.

Be clear: Humility does not advocate passivity. Humility seeks truth, candor and clarity with ourselves and others. Truth often requires action and change … and these may require prudence and much courage to overcome the lesser habits of our decades.

Finally . . .

Humility is another of God’s gifts … but we must cooperate and do the work. Humility reveals to us that we truly restless creatures who are, for some incredibly generous reason, beloved by God; restless, impatient beings who insist upon sniffing at knowledge whilst often forgetting friendship with, and trust in, our Loving Creator.

Let us never discount the value of Humility and the Mystery of God. Let us never overlook the fact that within the gift of Humility rests simple Wisdom and Faith, along with a greater measure of peace and more extensive freedom than human knowing can ever offer.

Finally, in response to our initial question, “Where Is God?” Humility urges all of us, for starters: “Look within …”

Daniel Boland PhD is a psychologist and blogger.