When the Homily is about Immunology

The Absence of God

When I used to be a Pentecostal I can recall that we used to put a great amount of emphasis on coming into and experiencing the "presence of God." Worship services sought and, if we were lucky enough, would often have very special "manifestations" of the Holy Spirit. Overall, feeling God's presence in a somewhat esctatic sense, seemed to be the goal of pentecostal praxis.

But what about all those times when we'd feel like our prayers were "bouncing off the ceiling"? When there are no warm fuzzies or sensations of rapturous bliss?

Our Men's Group which meets every other Saturday morning is currently reading through a fantastic book entitled Beginning to Pray by Archbishop Anthony Bloom who offers a very different take on this perceived absence of God, and it really stuck with me this morning:

...a meeting face to face with God is always a moment of judgement for us. We cannot meet God in prayer or in meditation or in contemplation and not be either saved or condemned. I do not mean this in major terms of eternal damnation or eternal salvation already given and received, but it is always a critical moment, a crisis. 'Crisis' comes from the Greek and means 'judgement'. To meet God face to face in prayer is a critical moment in our lives, and thanks be to Him He does not always present Himself to us when we wish to meet Him, because we might not be able to endure such a meeting. Remember the many passages of Scripture in which we are told how bad it is to find oneself face to face with God, because God is power, God is truth, God is purity. Therefore, the first thought we ought to have when we do not tangibly perceive the Divine presence, is a thought of gratitude.