God Is Not Out There

When Friar Richard Rohr was living at the hermitage in Kentucky, there was an ex-abbot who had chosen the life of a recluse. A recluse is a hermit’s hermit—one who lives deep in the forest and comes to the community only on rare occasions such as Christmas or Easter. The rest of the time, the recluse remains in solitude, connected with himself, nature, and God.

One day, as Rohr was walking along a trail near the hermitage, he saw the recluse returning from the forest. Not wanting to intrude upon his silence, Rohr bowed his head and stepped aside. The recluse, however, stopped and said to him, “You get to preach, and I don’t. When you preach, just tell the people one thing: God is not ‘out there’.” Then he walked on.

Those words left a deep impression on Rohr’s heart.

To say that God is not “out there” is to say that God does not reside somewhere outside of us, outside of nature, or outside of the universe. God is in here, right now—within us, within creation, and within the whole cosmos. Because of this, we are sacred. Our bodies are sacred. Nature and the universe are sacred.

If we have eyes to see, we realize that this is precisely what Jesus came to reveal: the union of the sacred and the human, the sacred and the body, the sacred and the material—symbolized in the wheat and the wine—and the sacred and the universe itself. God is not distant. God is present.

Yet we often push God “out there”—beyond ourselves, beyond our bodies, beyond the world we inhabit. When we do this, we lose sight of the belovedness with which we were created. The body can begin to feel like a burden or even something to escape. Nature becomes something to exploit. The material world feels empty of holiness. But the truth remains: God is here. God is Emmanuel—God with us.

Recognizing this is a journey. To awaken to God’s presence in ourselves, in others, and in the universe takes time. If God were not here, nothing could exist. As Scripture reminds us, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). May we open our inner eyes to see the God who dwells within.

The spiritual journey is not about going farther, but going deeper.

Notes

Rohr, Richard. Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer. New York: Crossroad, 2003, p. 90.

God Is Not Out There 

Explore this theme in three different formats—each offering a unique way to reflect and engage: 

📄 Article: https://lifespring-wholeness.blogspot.com/2025/12/god-is-not-out-there.html

 🎧 Audio: https://youtu.be/dOUSgle_Eo8

🎥 Video: https://youtu.be/SFsCDhyPOCg

 Read, listen, watch—then comment and share! 

 

Christmas: The End of Separation

 

The event of Christmas breaks the perceived duality between the divine and the human. Across cultures and religious traditions, God is often understood as distant—above, beyond, and separate from human life. Christmas, however, reveals a far deeper and more intimate truth about the human–divine relationship.

At the heart of Christmas is the proclamation that “the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). God does not merely visit humanity but fully enters into human reality. As Friar Richard Rohr reflects, in Jesus the duality between the divine and the human is abolished—not by erasing distinction, but by rejecting separation. Rohr emphasizes that Jesus “makes visible the hiding place of God,” revealing that human life itself becomes the place where the mystery of divine–human union is disclosed. In Jesus Christ, divinity and humanity are shown to be one inseparable reality. The divine cannot be detached from the human life of Jesus; together they form a single, unified existence. Thus, in Christ, the long-standing split between God and humanity collapses.

This union is not meant to remain exclusive to Jesus. Scripture affirms that Christ is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). To call Christ “firstborn” implies relationship—we are not outsiders but younger siblings, invited into the same pattern of life. Jesus is not the exception; he is the exemplar.

Jesus himself points toward this shared destiny when he says, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30), and prays “that they may all be one… as we are one” (John 17:21). He goes even further by echoing Scripture: “You are gods” (John 10:34; cf. Psalm 82:6). These passages reveal a profound truth: God is not external to human life but intimately present within it.

Perhaps our struggle is not God’s absence but our lack of awareness. When we begin to recognize God as dwelling within us, our understanding of God, others, and ourselves shifts fundamentally. Christmas invites us to live from this truth—not as distant seekers, but as participants in the mystery of divine–human communion.

Questions for Reflection

1.     Where do I seek God—outside myself or within my lived experience?

2.     How can I recognize and honor God’s presence in others, especially amid human limitations?

3.     How do I respond to my own limitations, and what helps me live into my deeper human–divine identity?

Notes

Rohr, Richard. Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer. New York: Crossroad, 2003, p. 88.

Rohr, R. (2019). The Universal Christ: How a forgotten reality can change everything we see, hope for, and believe. Convergent Books.

Christmas: The End of Separation

Explore this theme in three different formats—each offering a unique way to reflect and engage: 

📄 Article: https://lifespring-wholeness.blogspot.com/2025/12/christmas-end-of-separation.html

🎧 Audio: https://youtu.be/J48g7NzcwCQ

🎥 Video: https://youtu.be/P_6zfttc1W4

Read, listen, watch—then comment and share!

 

A Shoot of Hope

As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, Scripture offers us a quiet yet powerful image from the prophet Isaiah: “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). When we pause and sit with this verse, it invites us to reflect not only on the coming of Christ but also on our own lives—especially the places that feel broken, barren, or lifeless.

A stem or stump is what remains after a tree has been cut down or has fallen. It often appears dead, stripped of beauty and promise. In many ways, this stump mirrors our human experience. Life can leave us feeling cut down by illness, broken relationships, betrayal, financial insecurity, addiction, or spiritual weariness. For someone grieving the loss of a loved one or enduring the pain of a shattered relationship, life can feel like a stump—silent, empty, and without hope.

Yet Isaiah speaks directly into this place of devastation. From the stump, he says, a shoot will emerge. Not a towering tree all at once, but something small, fragile, and easily overlooked. This shoot of hope reminds us that God’s work often begins quietly, in places we have already written off as dead.

The invitation, then, is to notice the shoot. Ask yourself: What in my life still holds the possibility of growth? What small sign of grace is present, even now? It may be a rediscovered gift, a caring relationship, a moment of prayer, or a gentle support offered at the right time. Compared to the weight of our struggles, these signs can seem insignificant. Yet they carry the promise of life.

If we allow it, this tiny shoot can grow into something life-giving and fruitful. God does not demand that we feel hopeful—only that we make room for hope to take root. This Advent, will you trust God enough to nurture the small beginnings and allow your shoot of hope to grow?

Hope often begins where we think life has already ended.

A Shoot of Hope

Explore this theme in three different formats—each offering a unique way to reflect and engage:

📄 Article: https://lifespring-wholeness.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-shoot-of-hope.html

🎧 Audio: https://youtu.be/yGb_smOCEa8

🎥 Video: https://youtu.be/8rAddKxufwA

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Living from Abundance

 

There are two ways to live: from scarcity or from abundance. Living from abundance has little to do with wealth, large homes, or possessions. It is measured by the openness of the heart.

Living from scarcity is a subtle, inward posture. It is the habit of being miserly in giving or receiving love. Scarcity whispers, “Protect yourself. Don’t give too much. Don’t receive too much.” Out of fear—fear of being hurt, fear of losing love, fear of being overwhelmed—we close the doors of the heart. Sometimes love is allowed to slip in only through small windows, as if this will keep us safe. Yet this shrinking does not protect us; it keeps us in chronic fear, an emotional drought that slowly shapes our whole being.

Living from abundance is a spiritual perspective. It is the willingness to see our lives, others, and God’s world as overflowing with the capacity to give and receive love. Those who live from abundance choose openness. They allow love to pour out freely and welcome its inflow graciously. They gently remove the inner barriers—old wounds, limiting beliefs, rigid defenses—that restrict love’s movement within them.

Fear can arise when we open our hearts. But Scripture reminds us: “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). Abundance is not the absence of fear; it is the choice to let love have the final word. Every time we choose love, we move from fear to trust, from scarcity to abundance. Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and social activist, reminds us that “Love is an act of courage, not fear.” Courage expands the heart, while fear contracts it. We need to choose love and keep choosing it every day.” 

To live from abundance is a conscious, daily decision. It is choosing openness over self-protection, trust over fear, generosity over guardedness. When we let love lead, we begin to taste the quiet freedom of a life that overflows with care, connection, and wholeness.

 

Notes

Paulo Freire in Yellow Flag Programme (2025, December 7). Love is an act of courage – Education is freedom

 

Living from Abundance

Explore this theme in three different formats—each offering a unique way to reflect and engage:

📄 Article: https://lifespring-wholeness.blogspot.com/2025/12/living-from-abundance.html

🎧 Audio: https://youtu.be/AWyw9pj2W4Y

🎥 Video: https://youtu.be/9lH2-1Tm1QI

Read, listen, watch—then comment and share!