God in Absentia

“A Silent Heaven is the greatest mystery of our existence.” So writes Sir Robert Anderson in his 1897 book The Silence of God (in his chapter Where is God When People Suffer?) He further states, “But in vain do we strain our ears to hear some voice from the throne of the Divine Majesty. The far-off heaven, where in perfect peace and unutterable glory, God dwells and reigns, is SILENT!” 

But is the far-off heaven really silent?

Is God in absentia? One example of the meaning of in absentia is to be put on trial in your absence, when you are not physically present. God seems absent, not physically present, and thus we tend to put God on trial. 

Does God feel absent and far away from us? Martin Laird, in his book An Ocean of Light, suggests that we misunderstand. God is not far away. In fact, God is so close that this has become almost unrealizable to us. The idea of Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans, a fearful and fascinating mystery, is that subconsciously we do not want to acknowledge this closeness, despite our fascination with the mystery, because we fear the trembling in the presence of God. The solution, according to Laird, is to appear before God in silence, in contemplative prayer. That is, to develop a daily practice of silent, listening prayer in the direct presence of the Creator. 

Hermann Hesse’s novella Siddhartha appears to be the story of the Buddha, circa 500 B.C. But Hesse can be sly in his writings, particularly with names. In the story, the young Siddhartha (which is also the name of Buddha) meets and becomes a disciple of THE Buddha, the supreme teacher. But Siddhartha remains unsatisfied with his teachings. Siddhartha continues on a nomadic quest to find something deeper, something beyond that, a more meaningful voice. The story begins with him respectfully defying his father, asking for his permission to leave the Brahmins, the Hindu upper caste he is a part of. The Brahmins are the caste that maintain the rituals, the scriptures, and the laws. This suggests that we might be challenged to leave the religion of our fathers to find truth. This is difficult. Hence, the novella Siddhartha is about departure.

The letter to the Hebrews is also about departure, the need to leave behind the “religion” of one’s fathers. It is also a letter of encouragement (13:22) to the “Hebrews” who have discovered their Messiah. It urges them to not drift back to where they once were, but instead to stay; to move on to maturity and to the better things. In this letter of encouragement, the reader will encounter mystery, trembling, and fascination. But how far away do we have to travel to find the dwelling place of God?

Mysterium Introduction | God in Absentia  | God Invisible | God In Creation | God Incarnate