Episode Transcript  

One

The Great Misunderstanding: We Think God Is Far Away

Years ago, Bette Midler sang a song that resonated with millions of people. It was called From a Distance. The refrain said, "God is watching us... from a distance." I hated that song, because well, Aerosmith, Black Crowes, Tesla and so many great rock bands came out with much better music that same year. But, I admit, a lot of people loved Bette Midler’s song. Why did that song resonate with so many people? Because it expressed what many of us already believe. We imagine God is somewhere far away, watching us from beyond the stars. When you pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven," where do you picture heaven?

If we're honest, most of us picture heaven as somewhere "up there" beyond the clouds, beyond the stars, unimaginably distant. We even look up when we pray. And because we imagine heaven is far away, we imagine God is far away. One of the greatest obstacle to experiencing God is not that He is distant. It's that we imagine He is.

Two

The Astonishing Reality: The Father Is Infinitely Beyond us and Closer Than You Can Imagine

So where is God? First, God really is infinitely beyond us, but not because He is billions of light-years away. He is infinitely beyond us because He is the Creator, and we are creatures. He is God, and we are not. And at the very same time, God is intimately close to us. At every moment we receive our existence from Him. If God were not thinking of you right now you would simply cease to exist. That means God is closer to you than you realize. Jesus tells us that the Father knows every hair on our head and notices every sparrow that falls to the ground. Nothing escapes His loving attention. And Jesus promised something even more astonishing. That God would live in us for He said, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.” Through Baptism the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell within our soul.

So when you pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven," don't picture a Father who is distant. Picture a Father who is both infinitely greater than creation yet lives within you. He isn't watching you from a distance. He is sustaining you from within.

Three

What Heaven Really Is

God is infinitely greater than us, but He is also intimately close, by faith and baptism God lives in our soul. So, then what is heaven? Heaven is perfect union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, together with Mary, all the angels, and all the saints. It is the complete fulfillment of every desire of the human heart because God Himself is our happiness.

At the end of this world, after the resurrection of the dead, God will create a new heaven and a new earth. Everything that is truly good, beautiful, and worthy in creation will be renewed and transformed. Then we will live forever, body and soul, in a renewed creation, enjoying perfect communion with God and with one another.

So, if Heaven is union with God, then that means heaven begins long before we die. Whenever God lives in a soul through sanctifying grace, heaven has already begun. The saints in heaven simply possess perfectly what we possess now by grace. As Pope Leo XIII wrote, what we have now and what the saints possess in heaven differs not in kind, but in degree.

Think of the holiest person you know. What makes that person holy? God lives in them and He lives through them. You can almost see His light shining through them. That is heaven beginning on earth.

So every time you pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven," ask Him to make your soul more like heaven, to remove everything that keeps you from living in complete friendship with Him.

Four

If Heaven Has Begun, Why Don't We Experience It?

Because God dwells in our soul, heaven has already begun within us. But why don't we experience God? Because our union with Him is still incomplete. We have filled our hearts with good but lesser things that we think we need to be happy. They take first place, leaving God in second place. It's like having a four-bedroom house. We give the master bedroom to success, another to health, another to comfort, another to the approval of others, and tell God He can sleep on the couch. God is already in the house, but He is not first in our hearts.

The good things we begin to rely on more than God for our happiness become idols. We all have them. I know my idols, my roommates, the things I think I couldn’t be happy without. Good things like good health, relationships and success in my work. These are not evil things. But we must put them in their right place.

God is the giver of all good gifts. I should want the Giver more than the gift. And if a gift is diminished or taken away, I still have the Giver who is the source of all good things. So, we need to love the lesser things less and the Greatest thing more. Give God the master bedroom. Put everything else on the couch.

Five

Putting Our Idols in their place

So, how do we give God first place and the good things in life second? We choose Him first. God already lives in your soul. But we ignore Him for much of the day. Friendship only grows by spending time together. The more we talk to Him, listen to Him, and simply remain with Him, the more our hearts are reordered around Him. That is prayer.

You are doing that right now in the Rosary. If you have more free time, spend it with Him. Read the Gospel slowly. When something strikes you, stop and think about it. Let Him speak to your heart. Share a meal with Him every day. In the Eucharist He has made Himself the supernatural Bread that gives you supernatural life. If you have the opportunity, go to daily Mass. Every day He invites us to His table and feeds us with Himself.

Then, when one of the good things of this world you love is diminished or taken away, and you cannot change it, accept it. God is making more room in your soul so He can fill it more completely with Himself.

We would rather have the Father of all good gifts, because when we have Him, we have the source of every good gift. And that is Heaven.

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