Where Is God?

HERS:
The "Roam" has taken us to many different Catholic and one Protestant church over the past eight months. This week brought us to my favorite of God's homes... nature. I remember asking why we had to go to church when I was a kid. The answer I always received was that, just like visiting a friend, we had to visit God at his "house". Well, let's just say we visited his outdoor home on Sunday. We attended the 10:00-ish nature-inspired gathering at Gravelly Point in Arlington, VA. We propped open our lawn chairs and took in all of God's beauty with a bagel and coffee. 

It is said in Matthew 18:20:
"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

Did you ever just sit outside and take in all of the beauty that nature has to offer? The sky, clouds, trees, grass, fresh air, birds, bugs, flowers, and on and on... It is overwhelming to think that God created all of this for us and it all somehow stays in motion. I am overwhelmed by this notion. It inspired me to ask Lou several very deep questions while we sat there and took everything in. Questions like,

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why do good things happen to bad people?

Why are we here?

If  you hadn't been raised Catholic, what would you be now?

Do you think there is life elsewhere?

Do you think God created that life?

Do you believe in coincidences?

Just some light topics for discussion on a Sunday morning. I think I had Lou's head spinning! He didn't have any concrete answers for me, but I know he tried the best he could to answer all.

I don't know how it would be possible to watch birds flying, and people walking, and clouds moving, and bugs landing, and grass flowing in the gentle breeze and not believe in something. How could all of this come into being and not have a Creator with a master plan? Big bang? I'm not buying it. 

This experience has me contemplating once again... Religion vs. Spirituality/Faith. Just like a friend, I do believe that God wants us to visit us in his home. He wants to visit us in ours. Prayers are kind of like phone calls with God. Mass is kind of like dinner and conversation with God. 

I struggle with my religion right now and I am sure many Catholics are doing the same. I don't want to lose sight of the important things - and that is my faith. This outing helped me to see the bigger picture.

Next week we travel to Erie and will get back to the Catholic Mass at my home parish, St. Patrick's.

HIS:

Where is God?  Typing these words and seeing them on a blank piece of digital paper is somewhat intimidating.  Mary and I decided this week to seek God in nature, so we ventured out this morning with coffee and bagel in hand to seek God in what he created.  This led to a series of very deep contemplative questions from Mary as we communed with nature.  Maybe it was too early in the morning and I hadn’t enough coffee yet, but my answer to most of her questions was, “I don’t know.”

I think this is kind of the premise behind our faith in anything.  You have no solid proof in the existence of something, yet you believe anyway.  In looking around at the beauty that nature hath, I have to believe in something more than myself.  

Do you believe in coincidences?  Another Mary question this morning and one of the easier ones for me to provide an answer.  One possible explanation for me as to what constitutes a coincidence is, it is the secular world’s explanation for a message from God.  I hear about those who receive a calling to serve the Lord.  Are those messages a call from God or just a coincidence that happen to occur just when the person was thinking about that particular topic?  I will give an example.  I have been wanting to give back to the community.  One of the things that I have been considering is volunteering with Meals on Wheels.  I have NEVER seen a community service or advertisement for this worthy organization, EVER.  Over the past month, I have seen a Meals on Wheels PSA on at least two occasions.  Coincidence or a message that I should get off my butt and sign up?  I will let you decide.

The final Mary question from this morning that I will share, is there life elsewhere and if so, did God create that life as well?  Where do you even begin with something like this?  The universe is so vast that it is difficult to comprehend as an entity, let alone trying contemplate if there is life out there.  That said, I find it difficult to believe that there cant be any other life in existence among all the stars and planets in the entire vast collection of stars and planets.  There is a scene at the end of one of the Men in Black movies that shows an ever expanding picture of larger and larger entities.  Planet, Solar System, Universe…bigger and bigger and thus making the starting point look ever smaller.  This is a real thought provoker.  I do truly believe with all that is out there beyond our own milky way that there has to be other planets that are habited with life.  I sort of picture it to be like Australia.  Everything the opposite of the way it is here and upside down…😊

When it was my turn to throw a challenge at Mary, I asked what is our purpose in life?  Her answer was quite simple and eloquent.  We are here to make connections with others.  Being the introvert that I am, I said,  “Oh boy I’m in trouble!”  As we discussed, I have a slightly different take.  I believe we are put here to help our fellow man.  I read once that we can serve that purpose even if it is just to be a cautionary tale to others.  What not to do!  Somebody told me once that they learned a lot about management from their boss.  He was such a bad manager that they learned what not to do!  The messages we are meant to hear or see aren’t always obvious.  This reminds me of a joke;  A very religious man was caught in rising floodwaters.  He climbed onto the roof of his house and trusted God to rescue him.  A neighbor came by in a canoe and said, “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll paddle to safety.”  “No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”  A short time later the police came by in a boat. “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll take you to safety.”  “No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”  A little time later a helicopter hovered overhead, let down a rope ladder and said. “The waters will soon be above your house. Climb the ladder and we’ll fly you to safety.”  “No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”  All this time the floodwaters continued to rise, until soon they reached above the roof and the religious man  drowned.  When he arrived at heaven he demanded an audience with God. Ushered into God’s throne room he said, “Lord, why am I here in heaven? I prayed for you to save me, I trusted you to save me from that flood.”  “Yes you did my child” replied the Lord. “And I sent you a canoe, a boat and a helicopter. But you never got in.

I am grateful for my bride and mornings like today just confirm that even more.  Our chance to sit among nature and discuss spiritual things deepen our relationship and I am truly thankful for that.  Next week will return us to a more formal celebration of our faith and another Catholic church.  We will be traveling to the Diocese of Erie and the church where we were wed.

We nourished our bodies today with bagels from Bethesda Bagels.  My favorite!  Remember, live life like you mean.  See you next week.