Before we dismiss the idea as being outlandish, outrageous or whatever, we just have to remind ourselves that we are meant to live our life with God. And this is not only in heaven, our definitive state in eternity, but right here and now.
No matter from what angle we look at the issue, even if we take the atheist view, we cannot escape from the reality that our life, in its utter objectivity, not minding first our subjectivity, is a life with God.
And that’s simply because God is the one giving us our very existence. And precisely because it is existence that he gives us, he cannot but be the one also to keep and maintain it, otherwise, if he withdraws from us, then we would cease to exist.
For sure, our existence does not depend solely on the food we eat, the water we drink, the good health and other things that we may enjoy. They contribute, of course, but it is God who is first of all responsible for our existence.
With this clarification, we overcome what may be referred to as the deistic bias which considers God only as Creator, giving us our existence at the start of our life, but leaving us alone after that.
And so he is always in us as he is also in all other creatures and things. That is why we say God is everywhere. He is omnipresent. And if that is so, then he is also in each one of us.
Except that in our case, his presence in us is not meant to be simply passive or inert. It is an active presence that corresponds to our nature as a person endowed with the power to know, to be free and responsible, to choose, to love, etc.
In short, we are supposed to correspond to that presence by at least being aware of him and then start developing a relationship that reflects all the aspects of our life—personal, spiritual, social, material, professional, economic, political, etc.
This is where we have to cultivate the skill of recognizing his presence wherever we are. We need to cultivate this skill, exerting the appropriate effort for it, because being aware of his presence does not come to us automatically.
God is spiritual, and more than that is supernatural, infinitely above our nature. Nothing in our human natural powers would enable us to detect his presence without his grace, his sharing of what he has with us.
God takes the initiative first. St. Augustine expressed this truth well when he said, “God created us without us.” And he continued by saying, “But God cannot save us (or cannot perfect us) without us.”
In other words, while God gives us always this grace, a truth that is abundantly proven in God sending his Son to us, and this Son, Jesus Christ, both God and man, accomplished his redemptive mission by offering his life on the cross, we on our part need to marshall everything that we have to engage ourselves with him.
That is why we need to exert effort to at least be aware of his presence. We have to find ways for this purpose in all situations and circumstances of our life—when we are alone or with others, when we are working or resting, when we are with the family at home or with friends outside, when we are in a trip, in a hotel room alone, etc.
Each of these situations calls for an appropriate plan and strategy, since many are the factors to be considered. We need to develop a certain discipline, since we tend to be held captive only by our human and worldly appetites, and we find it hard to be spiritual.
We have to make many acts of faith to crank up our spiritual energies and enter into the spiritual and supernatural world. For this, we need to find time to consider and savor the doctrine of our faith that would feed our prayer and spiritual activities.
Besides, we have to do this not only in some special moments of the day, but rather all the time, in all the circumstances of our life.
Thus, we need to find ways of being in God’s presence in every moment of the day in a natural way.
Like when things are going well or when we have problems, when we are studying or doing some manual, even menial work, when we are using the internet, when we do business or politics, etc.
We have to learn to live with God always!
***
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com