AMY LARSON
Staff Writer
Someone recently asked me how I know God exists. “I just know,” was the first thing that came out of my mouth. The more I thought about it, though, the more I recognized how insufficient this answer is. Not only does it not really explain anything, but it doesn’t do God any justice at all.
So, in reconsidering the question, I’d like to change my answer to something a bit more in depth.
God is real because love exists. Or, love exists because God is real. And while I know people who are loving and kind and do not believe in God, I believe the nature within us to love at all is a product of being made in God’s image.
God has a history of lavishing gifts on his people, sustaining them, guiding them, showing grace. Those acts of shocking mercy that make the news are testimonies to the loving nature with which God created us. Sure, we stray from love from time to time. But we cannot deny that at our very core, at the very heart of us, when we push away all outside ideas and forces, we are loving creatures. We care about others. We want peace, we want reconciliation, we want love. That is God.
I believe that when we don’t see God, it is because we try to push Him out of our line of sight, to the far, far peripheries, or to a place where we cannot see him at all. The things we often focus on are not thingswith which God associates.
God doesn’t care about money, and doesn’t need our financial support – this is the God who fed 5,000 people with only a couple of fish and some bread (Mark 6:30-44). God doesn’t care about status or flashy things. These are things that we choose to chase. God’s not going to force his way in; all the while, though, He is present. God is there when the millionaire recognizes the worthlessness of his bank accounts, when the celebrity recognizes how quickly fame fades. God is there when we recognize that life is something more beautiful than being well-known, being wealthy, or being praised.
God is a beauty that I cannot explain and cannot understand. His beauty lies in the optimism of children, in the hope of the downtrodden, and in the love given by those who have been hurt. His character rests in ideas about sacrifice, equality and compassion. He is present in the greatest parts in each of us.
I am not able to give an equation or write a proof about why God exists. But in the moments when I feel like I am helping others, doing anything worthwhile, I know that it is because of God. God allows us to go on when we think we’re exhausted, to give when we think we’ve got nothing more, and to love others with a passion that does not diminish (in fact, the more love we give, the more we have to give). The quiet, still times in our lives when we are overcome with beauty, with humility, with wonder – these are parts of the presence of God.
Whether I choose to believe it or not, God is real. He is not intrusive, and would never force us to love him (love demanded is not love at all). But with all that is within me, I know that if I focus my vision on something other than myself, I will see God at work. If I listen in quiet stillness, I will hear His song to the world. And if I open my heart to others, I will know that God is far more real than I ever thought possible.
03-20-2008
