Tears in the Alleyway

I was giving thanks for lunch today, as I'm wont to do now, and I thanked God for being there for me. Then I thought, no, that's not right. So I thanked Him for simply being there. It reminded me of Psalm 139: "Where can I go from your Spirit, or where can I flee your Presence?" etc. etc. Suddenly I perceived myself as being uttely surrounded by God's presence, like being in cool water. My skin formed a boundary, defining my "space" from God's. But that wasn't right either. I was reminded that his Spirit also dwells within me as a follower of Christ. Suddenly the boundary became only a membrane, then seemed to vanish altogether.

I can see where those New Age folks get their nonsense from. In a way, we really are all connected to God, and within everything God is present. The mistake they make is to believe that the presence of God is defined by the presence of the object. Not so, since the object is the creation of God. God's presence defines the object's presense, and without God's presence, the object ceases to be. Somehow I feel like I've mentioned this before. And that's really all I intended to write, but as always, now I'm thinking about it...

It makes me wonder how hell is defined. I've heard it posited that even in Hell, God is present. Verse 8 seems to agree, "...If I make my bed in hell (sheol, the grave) behold, you are there." But it must be that His presence is different. I recall learning that God "turned his back" on Jesus as he hung on the cross. Surely God's presence never left, because Jesus continued to exist. (Besides, how could God be separated from Himself and still exist? Even Jesus argued that point.) It must not be a matter of presence. Perhaps it's a matter of regard. God holds those in hell in different regard. If you're having a drink with your good buddy Officer Mahoney and he sees you get into a car to drive, Mahoney no longer acts like your good buddy, but as Officer instead. Mahoney's presence has not ended, but his regard of you as a decent guy has. I wonder if that's how it is with God. Pity that some are unable to detect that change of regard when they choose to disregard Him.