The Universe & God

I recently finished another helpful book from theologian Marcus Borg, entitled The God We Never Knew: Beyond Dogmatic Religion to a More Authentic Contemporary Faith (HarperOne, 1998). Among other things, Borg has some helpful insights about the nature of God, such as the following:

"God...[need not necessarily be thought of as] a supernatural being separate from the universe; rather, God (the sacred, Spirit) is a nonmaterial layer or level or dimension of reality all around us. God is more than the universe, yet the universe is in God. Thus, in a spatial sense, God is not 'somewhere else' but 'right here'" (12).

To me, this is a helpful way of thinking about faith. We can tend to get caught up in thinking of God as completely other than and separate from our own realities. However, our faith tells us that our lives are in fact permeated by the sacred - by God's Spirit. Again, Borg:

"The Christian tradition...has throughout its history consistently affirmed that God is both *transcendent* and *immanent*...The transcendence of God refers to God's 'going beyond' the universe, God's otherness, God as more than the universe. God's immanence, on the [other] hand, means God's presence in everything or nearness to everything. Immanence means to dwell with or within...The immanence of God thus means the omnipresence of God" (26).

God is beyond us and yet always with us - to be praised and magnified, yet also a close friend and beloved one. The sacred is something we'll never fully be able to grasp and yet also a reality that, when we're open to it, can touch and transform our daily lives.