On Christmas 2021, the James Webb Telescope was launched, a fantastic undertaking. This powerful telescope promises to reveal answers to many mysteries: what happened soon after the Big Bang, how galaxies were formed, how life began, and whether another planet exists that sustains life. The telescope will travel billions of miles, but no matter how far it goes, it will not discover the face of God. As the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin said, “I looked and looked, but I didn’t see God.”
Not to worry. Every Christmas we recall that our invisible God took on a human face some two thousand years ago. Besides, God who is pure spirit is everywhere.
Did you ever hear about the little boy who was afraid to get the broom out of the dark closet for his mom? She assured him, “Don’t be afraid. God is everywhere.” So the little boy cracked open the closet door and called in, “Hey, God, would you hand me the broom!”
God’s omnipresence, or ubiquity, is a comforting attribute. We are never alone because God is constantly with us. So we needn’t feel lonely or afraid no matter how gloomy or daunting the days. God says in Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you. . . I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
One thing I like about the Catechism of the Catholic Church is that along with calling God Most High, it calls God Most Near. How can God be everywhere? He is the eternal, infinite spirit. He is not restricted by space or time. God is in everything he created simply by the fact that he is the cause, the source of all being. (But everything is not God or even a part of God. To think so is the error of pantheism.) God keeps everything in existence. If God stopped thinking about you, the chair you are sitting in would be empty.
St. Paul said, “In him we live and move and have our being.” God is like the air we breathe: invisible, life-giving, all around us. There is a story about a little fish who is looking for the ocean. He asks a big fish, “Where is the ocean?” The big fish replies, “It’s what you’re swimming in.” “But this is just water,” the little fish replies, and he swims on in search of the ocean. This is what we’re often like. Although we are swimming in God, we don’t realize it. Marty Rubin observed, “Solitude is when we discover that we are not alone.”
The beautiful Psalm 139:5–11 sings about God’s omnipresence: “Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. . . .Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee?/ If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, there you are. /If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea, /Even there your hand guides me, your right hand holds me fast./ If I say, ‘Surely darkness shall hid me’. . .Darkness is not dark for you.”
Jesus, who doesn’t lie, promised, “I will be with you always.” The apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, a collection of sayings of Jesus, includes this one: “Split wood; I am there. Lift up a rock, you will find me there.” That’s why St. Patrick—and we—can say, “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me; Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me; Christ on my right, Christ on my left; Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height.”
Sometimes at prayer we become acutely aware of God’s presence. Beholding a marvelous piece of God’s creation (They are ubiquitous!) also might bring us to stand before God in awe.
We call Israel the Holy Land. But because God is everywhere, our land is holy too. And yes, he’s got the whole world in his hands. He’s got you in his hands.
It’s good to remember God’s presence from time to time. Some people choose an action as a reminder. For example, they think of God whenever they touch a doorknob or go up stairs. God doesn’t need a reminder to think of you. You are always on God’s mind.
This hymn captures the essence of God’s ubiquity and what it means for us:
- When have you been keenly aware of God’s presence? What do you do to remember that God is with you, loving you and caring for you?
