The Apparent Absence
but Real Presence
of God and His Kingdom

Before the fall of man, God, Adam and Eve knew each other intimately. Yet, this was not enough to keep Adam and Eve from running away from God like foolish children. God loves His children and, because of His love for them, wants His children to come home to Him. But He also respects the sovereignty of their free will so He lets them go. As they left, God wants His children to come home to Him - under their own power. God will not seize His children, tether them to His omnipotence and drag them home against their free will as they resist kicking and screaming. Heaven is not a bitter pill and God will not, against our will, jam it down our recalcitrant throats.

To prevent His omnipotence from infringing upon our free will, God erected a facade to hide Himself and His kingdom from us (Genesis 3:23-24). God's camouflage makes both His existence and His nature ambiguous. The facade was not a punishment. Its purpose is found in God's words which say "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29). Adam and Eve fell because they placed their trust in the word of the Enemy. For us to rise, the lesson we must learn is that we must place our trust in the word of God.

Keep in mind that neither God nor His kingdom disappeared with the disappearance of Eden. God is present and His kingdom, at hand. They are merely hidden. Their absence is an illusion. It is only because of the facade of ambiguity that we are unsure. In other words, God and his kingdom are apparently absence but really present in the world. God is not a liar and would not have told us that His kingdom is at hand (Matthew 10:7) (Matthew 4:17) (Mark 1:15) (Luke 10:9) (Luke 11:20) (Luke 21:31) if it were not so.

About the real presence but apparent absence of God and His Kingdom, Elizabeth Barrett Browning said:

Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes - The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

St. Teresa of Avila put it in a different way

Truth suffers, but never dies.

At each Mass we sing the Sanctus which contains the line "... and earth are filled with your glory". God's glory is not just found in heaven. His glory fills the earth as well.

Recognition is what is needed. C.S. Lewis spoke of the need for recognition, saying:

We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.

John the Baptist told the priests and Levites:

but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not (John 1:26)

Look at what Jesus said about our lack of recognition. Jesus told his disciples who were troubled that the Savior was here even though they were taught not to expect Him until Elias had come again

That Elias is come already, and they knew him not (Matthew 17:9-13)

Forget you not the road to Emmaus where again there was a lack of recognition?

And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. (Luke 24:30-31)

And perhaps the kindest, most generous words that Jesus said on our behalf asking God the Father to take into account our childish ignorance and by which our salvation was effectuated:

Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)

"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." (Matthew 25:34-45). "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Luke 8:8)

Although the facade of ambiguity makes God and His Kingdom seem apparently absent when God and His Kingdom are, in fact, really present, it is up to us to decide on which side of the facade to dwell. We get to pick (1 John 1:5-7). On its sunny side (1 Thessalonians 5:5) is the road home to a life of happiness with God (Isaiah 35:8-10). On its dark side is godlessness.

To accept the good news of great joy, we must make the leap through the facade of ambiguity from doubt to faith. Moreover, it is not enough to make a leap of faith merely to the existence of God. To accept the good news of great joy, a leap of faith about the nature of God is needed as well. We must decide to believe! (John 3:3) (John 20:30-31).

The apparent absence but real presence of God in the Eucharist is a microcosm of the apparent absence but real presence of God and His Kingdom in the world.