Omni-what?

There are so many cliché sayings in this world, so many philosophies and religions to learn from but what happens when they all seem to fall short in your eyes? What happens when the answers I seek I no longer find in a book, from a guru or from some deity in the sky? When do I start looking within for my intuitive guidance and letting the prefabricated deities of history do what they do best; sleep in everlasting peace.

In catholic school I learned that God was omnipresent. The concept of God watching over me all the time, judging me, supporting me, criticizing me, smiling or even laughing at me gave me the creeps. I mean why did this all-knowing Being care if I was playing in the creek with the salamanders or helping my mom in the garden? But the nuns instilled a certain amount of fear in us that God was not just watching over us to protect us but to be sure that we were doing the “right” thing. In other words, God wanted to catch me in a sin so he could keep score and give me the proper punishment for my sins. But in the same breath the nuns told me that God loved me unconditionally and that as a human being I could never understand the depth of that unconditional love.

Even as a small child something seemed disconnected in the idea of an unconditionally love God. that judges me. If God loved me unconditionally and always watched over me to see if I was sinning, than why wouldn’t he instantly forgive me for my sins. Furthermore, why would he judge me in the first place? Unconditional love is after all, Unconditional. Without conditions, meaning that no matter what you do I still love you, right? And why would a loving God or person for that matter want to smite me or banish me to the bowels of eternal hell and damnation if he truly did love me. Doesn’t love by definition involve embracing someone for whom and what they are? Doesn’t love supersede all transgression and affirm life with a wholesome hug? Isn’t love an expression of caring and nurturing?

But last year I was taking a metaphysics class and I learned a different definition of omnipresent. This definition shifted my entire awareness of God, love and life. The direct translation of omnipresent in reference to God means that…

ALL OF GOD IS PRESENT IN ALL THINGS ALL THE TIME.

Now that has a completely different tone because if God is in all things, than God must be in me too, right? And if God is in all things that means God is not only watching but participating in EVERYTHING! Which leads me to a very strong conclusion; perhaps the nuns were right in one regard. God is unconditional love. To love something unconditionally is to immerse oneself in it. To love unconditionally is to not only embrace but celebrate all aspects of it. And if all of God is truly in all things at all times not only does it give me a headache trying to figure the mystery of how that can be but it also gives me peace of mind knowing that God is not watching over me like a disciplinarian, but working, playing, walking, laughing, crying and experiencing life through and with me all the time. To be by someone’s side no matter what, now that is unconditional love.

Knowing the true definition of omnipresent brings me back to my initial question…

What happens when the answers I seek I no longer find in a book, from a guru or from some deity in the sky? When do I start looking within for my intuitive guidance...?

I guess the time is now. Perhaps today I will go exploring with the understanding that all of God is in all of things all the time. I am bound to have a good time with the Creator of everything giving the tour.