HOW CLOSE IS GOD?
They were to seek God, and, it might be, touch and find him; though indeed he is not far from each one of us. Acts 17:27, N.E.B.
I have been told since I was a little child that Jesus will descend through the "open space" in the constellation of Orion at the time of the Second Coming. And so, of all the countless millions of stars visible in our heavens, my eyes always search out the middle star in the "sword" of the supposed warrior figure.
Telescopic photographs of the constellation reveal that this star really isn't a solid object but is actually a gaseous cloud. Some are certain that they see in it a large opening, or corridor, going into infinite space beyond. Somehow it was comforting to me as a child to know that, just possibly, this is where God lives! But then, I was dismayed to learn that the constellation of Orion is more than five hundred light-years from earth. Though I had no way of understanding just how far that was, I felt despondent that God kept Himself at such a distance that I couldn't even write the number.
Through the years, then, as I have heard people say, "I just don't feel very close to God," my mind has translated this into geographical terms. As I have matured, of course, I have recognized that it really doesn't matter whether God is six inches away or 6 trillion light-years away.
But isn't it just as irrelevant for the one who says, "I don't feel very close to God," to base that conclusion on flighty feelings as to base it on geography? The point is that feelings and emotions are a very unstable basis for measuring one's closeness to God.
Jeremiah complained to his Father about the attitudes of his people toward God: "Thou are ever on their lips, yet far from their hearts" (Jer. 12:2, N.E.B.). Jeremiah knew that closeness to God was measured not by distances. It is measured rather by the alignment of the mind with the values of God's kingdom. Jesus said, "Men cannot say, 'Look, here it is,' or ;there it is,' for the kingdom of God is inside you" (Luke 17:21, Phillips). It means having the values of Jesus Christ cherished in our deepest inner loyalties. You can't get any closer than that, can you?
They were to seek God, and, it might be, touch and find him; though indeed he is not far from each one of us. Acts 17:27, N.E.B.
I have been told since I was a little child that Jesus will descend through the "open space" in the constellation of Orion at the time of the Second Coming. And so, of all the countless millions of stars visible in our heavens, my eyes always search out the middle star in the "sword" of the supposed warrior figure.
Telescopic photographs of the constellation reveal that this star really isn't a solid object but is actually a gaseous cloud. Some are certain that they see in it a large opening, or corridor, going into infinite space beyond. Somehow it was comforting to me as a child to know that, just possibly, this is where God lives! But then, I was dismayed to learn that the constellation of Orion is more than five hundred light-years from earth. Though I had no way of understanding just how far that was, I felt despondent that God kept Himself at such a distance that I couldn't even write the number.
Through the years, then, as I have heard people say, "I just don't feel very close to God," my mind has translated this into geographical terms. As I have matured, of course, I have recognized that it really doesn't matter whether God is six inches away or 6 trillion light-years away.
But isn't it just as irrelevant for the one who says, "I don't feel very close to God," to base that conclusion on flighty feelings as to base it on geography? The point is that feelings and emotions are a very unstable basis for measuring one's closeness to God.
Jeremiah complained to his Father about the attitudes of his people toward God: "Thou are ever on their lips, yet far from their hearts" (Jer. 12:2, N.E.B.). Jeremiah knew that closeness to God was measured not by distances. It is measured rather by the alignment of the mind with the values of God's kingdom. Jesus said, "Men cannot say, 'Look, here it is,' or ;there it is,' for the kingdom of God is inside you" (Luke 17:21, Phillips). It means having the values of Jesus Christ cherished in our deepest inner loyalties. You can't get any closer than that, can you?
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