The Only Question
Why should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their god?” – Joel 2:17b (NRSV)
“Where is God?” is kind of the only question there is. Or the only one that matters. The first question, and the last.
Pharaoh asked it in Egypt, the Israelites asked it in the desert, the Magi asked it from afar, Herod asked it from a throne, Mary Magdalene asked it next to a rolled-away stone. Where is their God? Is God with us or not? Where is the one foretold? Where have they taken my Lord? A hundred ways to ask the same question, the one that comes before all others.
Of course the neighbors ask, “Where is their god?” So does everybody else. Your atheist cousin asked it all aggressively last Thanksgiving. You asked it with a broken heart last week when you read the news.
Joel’s worried the neighbors will ask where our god is because God hasn’t proved Godself enough, hasn’t provided enough, helped us win battles or get rich or avoid disaster. But the truth is, no matter how much God provides or does, we will all keep asking it.
I’m sorry to say that there will never be an answer that convinces everyone, no matter how much you might long for it. If the age of miracles didn’t do it, nothing will. There’s no such thing as proof. And even if there was, the answer never stays the same. Not on this side of heaven, anyway.
Where is God? Ask it sneering; ask it desperate; ask it hopeful. Just know that the asking never ends, and the only possible answer is the one you want to hear.
Prayer
Where are you, God? Amen.
About the AuthorQuinn G. Caldwell is Chaplain of the Protestant Cooperative Ministry at Cornell University. His most recent book is a series of daily reflections for Advent and Christmas called All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas. Learn more about it and find him on Facebook at Quinn G. Caldwell.