Acts 17:28 "For 'In him we live and move and have our being'..."

"For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring'” (Acts 17:28 NRSV).

Question:

Dear Rev. Ed: Though I can experience at times the peace of knowing God as a God “at hand,” His presence to me is hard to be conceived in space. If God is Spirit, and not a spirit, is he not “no space” rather than all space? Meaning, transcending space (and time, and thus eternal)—like Einstein thought that eternity was not a very long span of time but the absence of time. God All-in-All, couldn't it be God, present anytime and anywhere, rather than God, present always and everywhere. My concern is that space and time can limit God, his love, and all his other attributes, which seem contrary to my experience of who God is. I believe God to be "here and now,” not so much "here and there.” My apologies if this seem rambling; I would really appreciate very much your kindness in sharing your insight on this topic. Thank you!

Comment:

Paul is speaking in this passage, addressing the people of Athens for the first time, and expressing his understanding of the message of Jesus Christ in philosophical terms the Greeks might understand. The two quotations he cites are from Greek philosophers.   I would certainly agree that God is an energy that transcends time and space. And I like Einstein's realization that eternity is not endless time, but an absence of time. Time is a human-made system of measuring limitation. Eternity exists in the realm of Spirit. As A Course in Miracles teaches, the only point at which eternity and time touch is this “now” moment. And the only place at which the infinite of God and the specificity of the mortal world touch is in each of us.   Beyond that, it's really a matter of wording that 'feels' right to you. There is not, and will never be, an acceptable definition of God, because any definition describes what something is and, by implication, is not. God is everything. Everywhere. God exists beyond the limits of time, and at the same time the limits of time are a part of God. I have trouble with your phrasing of God as "present anytime and anywhere" because that seems to suggest that there might be other “anywheres” where God is not. Always and everywhere work better for me. But that’s me. I think we're saying the same thing. So you say “tomato” and I'll say “tomahto.”

Blessings!

Rev. Ed