Where is God?

I recently attended and helped officiate a large wedding at a church other than my own. The excitement of the young couple, who are deeply in love, was infectious. The brief ceremony at the church was beautifully planned. The music was personal, yet invoked the grandeur of God. The liturgy moved along nicely, and the vows were sincerely exchanged. Later that evening, my family and I sat down to dinner at the wedding reception with hundreds of other guests of the wedded couple. The atmosphere was energetic – it was like being in the eye of a hurricane -- as the wedding party, family, and friends swirled around making toasts, laughing, singing, and enjoying the pleasure of a good meal. God is present in our worship, and God is present in our rejoicing.

As a pastor, I often visit church members in area hospitals, nursing homes, and independent living apartments. Often these visits are brief and casual, yet sometimes they become serious. People express their discomfort, fears, doubts, dreams, and annoyances. People in the hospital almost always tell me that they are tired and want to go home. I listen to voices filled with anxiety, anger, and exhaustion. I conclude my visit with a prayer. God is present in our pain, in our weariness, in our prayer, and in our hope.

My church offers a variety of Christian Education classes. The adults are studying the Bible, the youth are examining their faith, and children are being taught that they are part of a larger church family. We read, we ask questions, and we attempt answers. Our answers lead to more questions, more reading, more discussions . . . it seems that our faith grows not by finding answers, but by discovering new questions. Reading the Bible to learn morals is like picking up a World Atlas to find directions to the nearest grocery store. God is present in our reading, our learning, our wondering, and our queries.

There are empty spaces in this city: unused closets, boarded up storefronts, unheated attics, unsold houses, unvisited classrooms, and spare rooms. God is present in these empty places.

Where is God? God is where we gather and God is where we are alone. God is in our joy and in our tears. God is in our certainty and in our doubt. God is where we are, and God is where we are not.

(This is my recent column in the Saint Peter Herald)