THE ABSENCE OF GOD

My Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

"Whoever prays carelessly, prays sinfully" [+Elder Efstratios of Glinsk]

THE ABSENCE OF GOD
By Anthony Bloom

AS WE START learning to pray, I would like to make it clear that what I mean by ‘LEARNING TO PRAY’ is not an attempt to justify or explain this in a speculative way. Rather, I would like to point out what one should be aware of, and what one can do if one wishes to pray. As I am a beginner myself, I will assume that you are also beginners, and we will try to begin together. I am not speaking to anyone who aims at mystical prayer or higher states of perfection, because these things will teach themselves. When God breaks through to us o when we break through to God, in certain exceptional circumstances, either because things suddenly disclose themselves with a depth we have never before perceived or when we suddenly discover in ourselves a depth where prayer abides and out of which it can gush forth, there is no problem of prayer. When we are AWARE OF GOD, we stand before Him, speak to Him.

At the outset there is one very important problem: the situation of one for whom God seems TO BE ABSENT. This is what I would like to speak about now. Obviously I am not speaking of a real absence — God IS NEVER REALLY ABSENT — BUT OF THE SENSE OF ABSENCE WHICH WE HAVE. We stand before God and we shout into an empty sky, out of which there is no reply. We turn in all directions and He is not to be found. What ought we to think of this situation?

First of all, it is very important to remember THAT PRAYER IS AN ENCOUNTER and a RELATIONSHIP, A RELATIONSHIP WHICH IS DEEP, AND THIS RELATIONSHIP CANNOT BE FORCED EITHER ON US OR ON GOD. The fact that God can make Himself present or can leave us with the sense of His absence is part of this live and real relationship. If we could mechanically draw Him into an encounter, force Him to meet us, simply because we have chosen this moment to meet Him, there would be no relationship and no encounter. We can do that with an image, with the imagination, or with the various idols we can put in front of us instead of God; we can do nothing of the sort with the Living God, any more than we can do it with a living person. A RELATIONSHIP MUST BEGIN AND DEVELOP IN MUTUAL FREEDOM. If you look at the relationship in terms of MUTUAL relationship, you will see that God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does not make Himself present to us for the few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three and a half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer at all because we do not even hear the knocks at the door of our heart, of our minds, of our conscience, of our life. So there is a situation in which we have no right to complain of the absence of God, because WE ARE A GREAT DEAL MORE ABSENT THAN HE EVER IS.

The second very important thing is that A MEETING FACE TO FACE WITH GOD IS ALWAYS A MOMENT OF JUDGMENT 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 ‘JUDGMENT.’ To meet God face to face in prayer IS A CRITICAL MOMENT IN OUR LIVES, and thanks be to Him that 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 in Holy 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. God IS MERCIFUL. HE DOES NOT COME IN AN UNTIMELY WAY. HE GIVES US A CHANCE TO JUDGE OURSELVES, TO UNDERSTAND, AND NOT TO COME INTO HIS PRESENCE AT A MOMENT WHEN IT WOULD MEAN CONDEMNATION.

I would like to give you an example of this. Many years ago a man came to see me. He asked me to show him God. I told him I could not but I added that even If I could, he would not be able to see Him, because I thought — and I do think — that to meet God one must have something in common with Him, something that gives you eyes to see, perceptiveness to perceive. He asked me then why I thought as I did, and I suggested that the should think a few moments and tell me whether there was any passage in the Gospel that moved him particularly, to see what the connection between him and God was. He said, ‘Yes, in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Saint John, the passage concerning the woman taken in adultery.’ I said, ‘Good, this is one of the most beautiful and moving passages. Now, sit back and ask yourself, who are you in the scene which is described? Are you the Lord, or at least on His side, full of mercy, of understanding and full of faith in this woman who can repent and become a new creature? Are you the woman taken in adultery? Are you one of the older men who walk out at once because they are aware of their own sins, or one of the young ones who wait?’ He thought for a few minutes then said ‘No, I feel I am the only Jew who would not have walked out but who would have stoned the woman.’ I said, ‘Thank God that He does not allow you to meet Him face to face.’

This may be an extreme example, but how often could we recognize similar situations in ourselves? Not that we flatly refuse God’s word or God’s example, but that in a less violent way we do what the soldiers did during the Passion. We would love to cover Christ’s eyes, to be able to deal him blows freely without being seen. Do we not do this, to a certain extent, when we IGNORE THE DIVINE PRESENCE AND ACT ACCORDING TO OUR OWN DESIRES, OUR MOODS, CONTRARY TO EVERYTHING WHICH IS GOD’S WILL? We try to blind Him, but in fact WE BLIND OURSELVES. At such moments, HOW CAN WE COME INTO HIS PRESENCE? We can indeed, IN REPENTANCE, BROKEN HEARTED; BUT WE CANNOT COME IN THE WAY IN WHICH WE IMMEDIATELY WISH TO BE RECEIVED — WITH LOVE, WITH FRIENDSHIP. (Source: Beginning to Pray)

________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +


With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George