The Googling God
Moses approached the burning bush filled with amazement.
“This is a very strange sight, indeed!” He said.
He whipped out his tablet and Googled: “…burning bush that doesn’t seem to burn.”
Instantaneously a list of possible answers popped out: Moses and the burning bush… Exodus 3:13-20… etc.
“Wow! I’m on the Internet!” He exclaimed.
* * *
No matter how silly this modern version of Moses may be, I’m sure mostly everyone, has tried Googling himself up in the Internet one time or another. It’s so natural to experience that elating feeling when one’s name pops out even from the remotest thread or for being ‘tagged’ in the smallest digital corner of cyberspace.
This made me toy with the idea that if God could only doodle with Google, what would He search for? Naturally, God doesn’t need Google. Before Google was, there was God! And only God is good enough for God. But if we imagined for just a moment what He would look for, what would it be?
Perhaps, like us God would be curious to see what’s in the Internet about Himself. He would be greeted by an infinite number of sites hosting things—both good and not so good—about Him.
But I believe that if God ever had something to Google for it would be only about you and me.
Really?
I could actually stop at this boggling mind-heart mystery of God’s constant searching and surprising love for us. There isn’t much we can say and understand about the why behind God’s love for us. We will never comprehend our own Creator’s mind. But what is crystal clear is that He loves us. God doesn’t really bother with our not understanding it, He simply wants us to be aware not of the why but of the fact that He simply does, and that is all!
M. Eugene Boylan explains this more in his magnificent reflection: “[W]e must remember that His love for men is not merely a love for humanity in general. God is in love with each human individual, personally and particularly. It is essential to remember that fact. Each of us can rightly regard the whole of our Lord’s heart and interest as centered on our own self, for our Lord would have undergone all His passion for any one of us, and each of us was present to His mind just as clearly and as significantly as if there were no one else to redeem. (This Tremendous Lover)”
What should be our response to this indescribable love of God? Pope Francis says, “This [being grateful] is the soul’s immediate, spontaneous reaction on experiencing God’s goodness. It cannot be otherwise. He always goes ahead of us. However hard we try, his love always gets there first, touches and caresses us first, He beats us to it. (Letter to Bishop Javier Echevarría on the occasion of the beatification of Álvaro del Portillo, 27-IX-2014)”
From these words of Pope Francis, we may consider three things:
First, our God is a God of surprises! Who doesn’t love a surprise? It would do us well if we open ourselves to these daily surprises. These come in small and big graces, both seen and unseen throughout the day. Some are undesirably surprising in the form of trials and burdens. What is important is to be always open ad maintain a grateful stance to the mystery of His Fatherly goodness that always seeks the best for us.
Second, our God loves to play hide and seek! In this game, however, we are the ones hiding from His love. Remember Adam and Eve after their fall? So how do we make it ‘easier’ for God to find us? By committing ourselves to concrete spiritual practices and devotions such as daily prayer, frequenting the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation. A special bonus for this Year of Mercy is that of encountering God in our brothers and sisters who are hungry, thirsty, sick, naked, homeless, in prison and the lonely.
Finally, God wants to surprise others through us! This is why Pope Francis encouraged us to be constant witnesses of God’s mercy in our lives. When we bear witness to what God has done in our life, some persons may positively respond while others may not. Sometimes being misunderstood or rejected can be a greater sacrifice than physical or financial sufferings. Since we are God’s instruments, the results—we must convince ourselves of this with faith—aren’t really important. God will do the rest.
So the next time you’re curious about what God may be Googling for, look at yourself in the mirror of your prayer and you will sense a wonderful childlike awe that God’s loving and merciful gaze is upon you always.
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