Does God Exist?
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13
A rabbi on the show Transparent wants to start a family, so she is devastated when she experiences a miscarriage.
As she catches up with a friend from seminary, she starts to break down mid-conversation as she recalls the emotional weight of her miscarriage. She tells him she is depressed and constantly questioning her belief in God.
Her friend doesn’t condemn her for her uncertainty nor does he dismiss her depression about her miscarriage as a lack of religious or personal tenacity.
He doesn’t try to explain to her why God should exist for her.
Instead, he talks about where he sees love, justice, truth, and beauty in the world. Whenever he sees these four concepts come to life, it expands his capacity to love. And that capacity to love is what he understands God to be.
He focuses on the good in the world, relates that good to his God, and lets her draw her own conclusions.
I can relate to the rabbi’s friend.
I’ve never been very concerned with trying to prove God exists, especially when those suffering hard times around me want to question God.
I don’t think a painful moment is the time to convince people God is real—or worse, to explain why God exists and lets horrible things happen to them.
When people hurt, it’s time to exemplify the Divine by showing how powerful Divine love can be.
Sometimes, our intercession doesn’t need a complicated religious label or explanation. It doesn’t even need to be presented as faith.
It just needs to be a hug, a listening ear, or a reminder that there is good in the world.
We don’t always need to remind people God exists. We just need to remind them that love does.
Prayer
Dear God, let my love do the talking. Amen.
About the AuthorMarchaé Grair is the Director of Public Relations and Outreach for the Unitarian Universalist Association and a member of South Euclid United Church of Christ, South Euclid, Ohio.