where?

It’s one of the most common questions I hear asked: where is God? 

Where are you God? What are you doing? Do you notice the crap pile down here? Want to step in? 

We can go on and on. 

I was recently in a conversation with a pretty depressed person who asked another version of the question to me: Why God doesn’t show up more often? 

I don’t know? 

I know there are all kinds of answers but, if I’m honest, I’ve found most of them to feel pretty empty. But, in that conversation, I realized a more important question that isn’t asked as often. 

What does it look like when God does show up? 

Is it powerful? What kind of power? Is it understood? Is it painting swatches of color across the sky? Is it fixing all the pain of theworld? 

Or is it mysterious. Is it weak? Is it vulnerability and love and does it live in all the places we don’t think it should? Is it evolving humans who live with suffering in order to evolve more? 

I don’t know. 

But I do think the reason many of us don’t see God is because many of us are too certain what, exactly, God looks like. Ironically enough, the main book about God, tried to make sure we never were too certain for just that reason. 

Whenever people became too certain, god turned into an idol and they stopped seeing God because they were too focused on the representation of God. 

I think God is always revealing God’s self. I don’t think that’s the main problem. I think the bigger problem might be what we’re expecting it to look like. As we all know, expectations make up a lot of our ability to see and experience.