Clergy from left, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
By Pastor Lynn Finnagan
Associate Priest
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith
Santa Fe
“Where are you?” I ask this question several times a day, every day. Unfortunately, the question is always directed toward an inanimate object such as my cell phone or my sunglasses! In the creation mythology found in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God asks the same question of humanity: where are you? The scene is one of my favorites: God is imagined strolling through the garden, asking the humans who have gone their own way and attempted to be their own gods, “Where are you?”
The question makes me laugh because, of course, God being God, knows exactly where the hiding humans are. God is not seeking the precise geographic location of the humans, like I am with my cell phone, but where they are as persons. He doesn’t need google maps or an air tag. He is not seeking a location but a relationship. He is seeking communion, coming to the place where people are living.
Where is your heart? Are you present to God? Do you invest in a relationship with him? Do you consider that he wants to know your whereabouts, as one of his beloved? In the creation myth, the humans are hiding from God because they feel a sense of shame for their disobedience. God knows their remorse, but still he seeks them out. He doesn’t turn his back on them. For reasons beyond our understanding, God desires a relationship with humankind, and continually and patiently asks, “Where are you?”
“Where are you?” is a question WE sometimes ask of God. “Where were you when my child had cancer?” “Where were you when my spouse left me?” “Where are you when I am feeling lost and alone?” “Where are you in this broken, messed up and violent world that needs so much healing and love?”
In a popular contemporary Christian song by Matthew West, “Do Something,” the songwriter observes the chaos in the world and is disillusioned by God’s failure to remedy it. His frustration is expressed in the opening lyrics:
I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
In the next line, the answer is given: “He said, ‘I did. I created you.’”
“Where are you?” is a legitimate question to ask of God, especially in circumstances that seem so beyond our control. Consider, though, that God asks the same question of each of us. The amazing thing is that God never tires of asking us that question, no matter how many times we get lost in fear, apathy, laziness, and self-interest. “Where are you?” isn’t a threatening, “you better come here or else,” question, but a persistent and loving invitation. Have you given your RSVP?
Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a column written by local women clergy including ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com); Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (pastornicole@bethluth.com); Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org); Pastor Deb Church, White Rock Presbyterian Church (pastor@wrpchurch.com) and The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church (momaryannhill@gmail.com).
