Floating in an Ocean of God
What would it be like without Him?
Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord.
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord.
You heavens, bless the Lord.
All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord.
All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Sun and moon, bless the Lord.
Stars of heaven, bless the Lord.
Every shower and dew, bless the Lord.
All you winds, bless the Lord.
Fire and heat, bless the Lord.
Cold and chill, bless the Lord.
Dew and rain, bless the Lord.
Frost and chill, bless the Lord.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord.
Nights and days, bless the Lord.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord.
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.
Let the earth bless the Lord.
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Mountains and hills, bless the Lord.
Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord.
You springs, bless the Lord.
Seas and rivers, bless the Lord.
You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord.
All you birds of the air, bless the Lord.
All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord.
You sons of men, bless the Lord.
O Israel, bless the Lord.
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord.
Holy men of humble heart, bless the Lord.
Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, bless the Lord.
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Let us praise and exalt him above all forever.
Blessed are you, Lord, in the firmament of heaven.
Praiseworthy and glorious and exalted above all forever.
(Daniel 3:57–88)
I know this Bible passage well because it’s part of the Liturgy of the Hours. But sometimes I wonder whether you and I saying or chanting these words actually grasp what they mean.
I probably mentioned the story of the two young fishes before because it’s one of my favorite stories to illustrate the reality of God in our lives—and at some point, dear reader, just like in a long, comfortable marriage, one tends to start repeating oneself.
In any case, the story goes like this:
Two young fishes are going for a swim together when they pass an older fish. The older fish says, “Morning! How’s the water today?” The youngsters politely nod and smile (if fish could do such a thing). As soon as they have passed him, one young fish turns to the other and says, “What is water?”
The story wasn’t originally a religious one; I guess it was meant to show noob entrepreneurs how easily they might take important things for granted. For me, on the other hand, it shows how oblivious we are to God’s presence. Because God is to us like the water to the fishes: He is everywhere, all the time, but we don’t perceive Him, so we falsely assume He’s not there.
I like to say: We are floating in an ocean of God.
God is like the air we breathe, like the atoms that form everything we see while being invisible to the naked eye. He is the first cause and the key element. “For in Him, we live and move and have our being,” as Acts 17:28 says. (This may well be my all-time favorite Bible verse, by the way.) He’s so essential and natural to our existence that we can’t fathom His existence.
This was really driven home for me by a YouTube testimony I watched the other day. Reji, a former drug addict/dealer, alcoholic, and fornicator, OD’d and went through a horrifying experience of Hell… four times. At the last minute, he got saved by Jesus and now spends his life serving the Lord, as he says.
[FYI, if you don’t like thinking about Hell, I still want you to read to the end, because further down, there’s a vision of Heaven that you CANNOT miss out on.]
I’ve never heard such agony in a man’s voice, and have never seen such abject terror, as when Reji, sobbing, recounts the greatest horror of all: the total absence of God.
Other witnesses like him say the same thing—how unimaginably excruciating it feels to a human soul when God is not there. None of us has ever experienced this, or ever will, as long as we still draw breath. And none of us is prepared for it.
This is the part that hit me the hardest in his testimony. If you can stomach it, watch the clip of Reji’s heartfelt remorse.
Transcript:
As your skin is being ripped from your body, as your teeth are being broken, as your tongue is being clipped, as your eyes are protruding out of your head—you know what you think about? You think about every time your grandmother told you that you need to serve God. You know what you think about? You think about every time you turned the TV channel and you heard a message about ‘Serve God and repent.’ You know what you think about? You think about every time somebody came to you and said, ‘Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ?’ You think about the time you could have prayed. And you get tormented; you get tormented because you had the chance to serve God. You had the opportunity to serve GOD! You had the opportunity for everlasting life, but you chose to party, you chose to fornicate, you chose to lie, you chose to steal, you chose to do drugs, you chose to get drunk, you chose to cheat on your husband or your wife; you chose to rob and kill people… and THIS is what you got.
I know some of my readers think I’m paying too much attention to the negative aspects of the faith—like demons, hell, purgatory, etc.—but I don’t see it that way.
On the contrary, just like the Stoics, who often imagined the loss of possessions and loved ones in order to fully appreciate the gifts of the present, it makes me feel immensely alive and immensely grateful that VatiGod decided to let me have another day on this beautiful earth, in His soothing, warming presence. And it makes me ever more determined not to waste this precious time and to love Him and serve Him as best I can.
By the way, if you want to balance out the Hell experience I linked to above with the most uplifting, glorious vision of HEAVEN I’ve ever heard, do yourself a favor and listen to the first half of this video testimony, where a man named Joel—after living a lukewarm believer’s life—is being transported into the heavenly realm and meets Jesus face to face.
He describes this encounter in great detail, and it’s so incredibly moving… it made me long for Heaven so much, I could barely contain myself. I recommend you keep a tissue box at hand as you watch it. And don’t let the hellish title intimidate you—trust me, you DO want to hear this. You can cut it off halfway through if you want, but don’t miss out on his description of Heaven.
Watch it here:
Joel actually talks about seeing perfect grass and perfect trees that were alive in a way that doesn’t exist here on Earth. He said the flowers, the trees, they are literally praising God all day long, as are the ecstatically happy human residents of Heaven. Just like in Daniel 3:57–88.
Cool rain that soaks the soil and waters the plants…
…dew sparkling like thousands of tiny diamonds in the fresh grass…
…chirping songbirds at sunrise…
…devout believers laughing and celebrating…
…all blessing and praising the Lord, because in Him, we live and move and have our being.
I couldn’t feel more blessed that God loves me, and I can’t wait to see this for myself. How about you?
or…