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!