Time and place and transience. Part 6

Time and place and transience

Part 6: God is all in all

Once again we see (what a surprise!) that God is the ground of our being, the foundation of our lives, the one who gives meaning and purpose to our lives, the one who not only enriches our lives beyond measure, but who holds the preciousness of our lives so that it is never lost. His presence answers the questions – and the fears – of humanity, reassuring us that the transience of our lives, as we move through time and place, is not a problem in terms of leaving strewn behind us a trail of treasures that are now all lost to us, but, rather, our movement through life is the means of creating what is precious in our own lives, and adding our contribution to the whole sum of what is precious, as it is all held in the heart of God. God is the storehouse of the treasures of our lives.

Postmodernism offers a false solution that, in reality, mocks humanity’s hopes. It tells us not to worry about meaninglessness, emptiness or loss, just enjoy your life – if you can, if you are lucky enough to have those opportunities. It is really not much more than the advice to, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die”. And, of course, in our thinking we have focussed on the problem of how to think about the treasures of our lives and our distress at the thought that they don’t really count for anything and are all now lost in the past anyway. However, there is also the experience of pain and suffering to consider. And, while we might be able to cope with this if the balance of our lives falls heavily into credit with the many good things of our lives easily offsetting those occasional times of difficulty, we recall that for some people the balance falls heavily into suffering and loss. Our ideas about God will be able to give meaning and value to those peoples’ lives too, and we will consider that another time, while postmodernism simply says, “Bad luck! Pity you didn’t live in our wealthy, comfortable society”.

So, postmodernism promises a false freedom: enjoy your bingo; there isn’t anything more to life than that. In contrast, belief in God gives true freedom, because our faith creates an arena in which we can live our lives here on planet earth with complete assurance that we are held within the love of God. The transient events of our lives are, indeed, the best choices we could make about what to do with our lives, in the situations in which we find ourselves, yet we live and move and have our being within the life of God. It is his presence, which no time can erode, and his love, which nothing can diminish, which is the infinite and complete receptacle in which we live. It is this that gives an absolute and permanent meaning and value to our lives. It is this which fills us with joy and peace now. It is this that enables us to cope with loss and pain and suffering, because even these do not diminish the preciousness of our lives, for God responds to our loss with even more love. It is from understanding that our lives are lived with God that enables us to run our course to the last day, when, perhaps suddenly and to our surprise, or maybe long expected but still creeping up on us through the drowsy fog of our final moments, we fall into blackness and have no more consciousness. Perhaps those who love us will be there to weep over us, but we will not hear them, nor will we be aware of the wetness of their tears. But this is of no matter. Our lives are held in the hands of God, and we are free to keep moving forward till we can do so no longer. Nothing is lost. We are with God now. And we will be with him forever.