Where Is God When I Need Him?

This question is an eternal, perpetual cry

So many people today are asking, where is God when I need him? Where is God during all this fighting, hatred and division. This question is an eternal, perpetual cry. It’s one of the deepest koans we can ever imagine. Where is God when I’m suffering? How could a good God, allow this kind of pain?

Many feel deserted by God, afraid of God, or deeply disappointed and confused. When they say where is God, they’re asking where is that which upholds my life and your life, the entire world? This is a fantastic question, that really needs to be explored in depth, from all points of view. When we look at all perspectives, it is amazing to see that the answer is always the same.

Finding God At The Kitchen Table

There’s one answer, one Truth. God is right here with us in the midst of our very ordinary, so-called normal daily life. And the very best place to find God is at the kitchen table. After all, we’re in the kitchen all the time. We want to have a cup of coffee. We go to the kitchen for breakfast, lunch, dinner. We go to join with friends and family. In fact, in many homes the kitchen is the main gathering room.

Everyone loves to be in the kitchen. Delicious food is cooking. There’s nourishment coming from snacks, treats, salad. And everything tastes better when we’re there with people we care about. We love sharing a cup of tea, a bowl of soup, a sandwich.

Even when we go out with friends, we’ll go to a restaurant to eat together, nourish one another and be nourished. And that is a great function of God as well, to nourish feed, provide. And what happens when the food seems to be getting scarce?

We blame God and strongly cry out, where is God when I need him? Why isn’t He here?

It’s Not That God Isn’t Here, We Aren’t Here

But it’s not that God is not here. We are not here. We’re not available, present and willing to nourish others or ourselves. When we are here, fully present and available, so is our experience of the goodness, abundance and fullness of God. That experience arrives when We are here.

Stop Searching Somewhere Else

During much of our life, we’re searching for God, for love, enlightenment, goodness all over the place. Essentially, we’re searching for happiness, security and fulfillment, don’t realize that we’re carrying it with us every single day.

“Heaven is not some place you go, it is something you carry with you.”

Rebbe

What Exactly Are We Seeking?

An important step to finding God, is to know just what we’re seeking, exactly? Some want to find a transcendent God that takes us beyond all the constant chaos, confusion and change. Life as we know it. There is a wish to transcend it all, not to step right into life directly, as it is, and cook a delicious meal for everyone in the kitchen.

Most want a God that will do something for them. They have an image of God as a constant provider that will never go away. Deep down they demand that their needs and wants be fulfilled. For them, God is a way to make them feel full, safe and secure.

Many Expectations of God

We have many different images of what God is to us. Very often these are just thoughts in our mind. Yet, we then become very disappointed when they don’t materialize. It’s like having a relationship with someone and creating a fantasy about them. Then we fall in love with the fantasy, and when it doesn’t materialize, or if it drifts away, we feel betrayed.

What Really Betrays You?

Many people say, my relationship betrayed me. No, it didn’t. You created a fantasy about that person, never knew who they really were. That fantasy betrayed you, how could it not? It was just a fantasy. Fantasies give you pleasure for a while and then disappear. They have to because they’re not real.

Don’t Make God Into A Fantasy

Don’t make God into a fantasy. Only a taste of the real thing will do. God is absolutely real and available, but how many of us have come into direct contact and relationship with the Source of our lives? Or are we simply maintaining a fantasy about it, and then when our fantasy dissolves, feel that there is no God, that we are deserted and alone?

Connecting With Our Source

There is always a source of love, of hope, of nourishment, of happiness, in the midst of all circumstances. But how do we connect with that? That’s the biggest question of all. How do we taste, digest and live that? How are we able to reach out to feed others? When there is true contact with God, we don’t just want to receive something all the time, but to share, give, nourish others. And doing that, is also a wonderful way to connect with our Source.

Growing Up

When we’re little children, we want everything from our parents. Give me, give me. Make the world suit me, make it safe for me, beautiful for me. It’s always about me. Little children want parents to do that. They idealize the parent.

When we get older, when we grow up, it becomes our responsibility to take care of the world ourselves. It is up to us to find the beauty, share the love and goodness, to lift others up. If we keep looking for our parents to do it, we haven’t yet grown up. Kierkegaard says that most people do not grow to be older than about fifteen years old spiritually. They grow up, get jobs, get married, but spiritually don’t grow beyond fifteen years old. They still keep wanting to be taken care of by their parents and others.

Here I Am

As we explore finding God in our life, right at the kitchen table, we are taking a wonderful step towards growing up, stepping up. And if someone has a need and is reaching out, saying to them, Here I Am. When Moses asked God where he was the answer came “Here I Am”. The same search for God was going on then, too.

I am is a very active, hopeful, alive phrase. Here I am! Just open your eyes and you’ll find me. But do we open our eyes? Do we open our hearts, minds, hands?

Where Are You?

So, let’s turn that around now and say Where are you? Where are we? It’s not just where we are standing at the moment, but where are we within? Are we present and available, giving of ourselves? Are our hands open to others? Are we awake and alive?

When Painful Times Come

When painful times come many of us want to hide, run away, numb ourselves, give ourselves candy and treats, so that we don’t have to experience the confusion and the pain we are in. That’s not exactly the best way to proceed. That’s more like a child looking for their parents to make them feel good and happy. To make the world right again.

Step Up, Be Present, Be the Support You’re Looking For

There’s a much more important and better way to proceed, be present, wake up, step up. Find God, find your source of strength and align with it. It is up to you to become the goodness and nourishment, the security and support you’re looking for. Once you take that direction, you cannot be shaken, deceived or confused. And as you’re on the journey it will take you right to the kitchen, so that you can provide wonderful nourishment for the entire world.

Here is more Zen, Sufi, and Talmudic wisdom by Dr. Shoshana in “Change Your Mind…”

Author: Brenda Shoshanna, Ph.D. is an author, psychologist, speaker, and long term Zen practitioner. Her work integrates the teachings of East and West and focuses upon ways of making the teachings real in our everyday life. This article is from her book, Fearless, (Seven Principles of Peace of Mind).

Her weekly podcast, Zen Wisdom For Your Everyday Life has been going on for over five years. www.zenwisdomtoday.com.

The Takeaway by Lewis Harrison “Ask Lewis”

I love reading, and sharing what great teachers create. Great wisdom bypasses my left-brain-intellect and connects that part of me that seeks meaning, love, kindness, empathy, and clarity.

I have many friends and associates, who are respected teachers. They usually share their creations with their own fans and followers. I want those who know and appreciate my work to expand their horizons and explore and share the ideas of important teachers like Dr. Shoshana. Here, I have gotten permission from her to repost their important writings.

I have known Brenda almost three decades. She is a powerful Zen teacher, with deep appreciation of, and understanding of Talmudic wisdom.

When it states written by Lewis Harrison at the bottom of this story it refers to my Medium Portal. This specific story is by Brenda Shoshana Ph.D.