In preparation for an accrediting visit for our college we have to locate and report on the whereabouts and successes of our graduates. No one in our department knew the whereabouts of one of last year’s psychology graduates. We started pulling out all the stops to find him. We asked in classes from other students. We did computer searches. We finally found him. He is working in our college library. Our psychology department is in the library basement. His desk is immediately above mine on the first floor. During the day he sits about five feet above me. He was lost! We didn’t know where he was!
His proximity to me reminds me of students who tell me they have no or little contact with God. They go about their daily routines sealed in their own little cocoons not aware that God is so very near. And unlike our student who was not trying to get our attention, God, who is self-revealing, has been trying to get those students attention. This week He has painted the sugar maples on campus with luscious reds and yellows. He has wafted 70 degree zephyrs through their hair. He has whispered to them via lectures from Christian professors and yet they don’t perceive His wooing.
In Romans 1 Paul mentions that we are without excuse because the invisible characteristics of God are evident in the visible things He has provided us. In the Psalms there is a wonderful verse that says, “Though I ascend to the heavens thou art there. Though I make my bed in Hell thou art there.” Psalm 139. How is it that someone can be so close and yet so far away? It’s amazing!
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 25, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org