Is Omnipresence an Invasion of Privacy?
Friday, October 30, 2009 - LIFES BIG QUESTIONS
:: soul-spy by -Vik-
Even if the Big Guy is watching us “from a distance,” isn’t it a little creepy to think that nothing we do goes without notice? Sure, there are plenty of things we like to keep private and away from heavenly voyeurism, including the times when we’re a little “into” ourselves. But there are also those moments in life when we want to banish the outside world—including the other-worldly—for a little “me” time.
Do you resent or appreciate the notion that you are being 'watched'?
I feel like the only reason I would resent the constant presence of God would be because I was doing something I feel is wrong, and that is not something I want. If I am trying to hide from God, then there is something inside me that I need to work on.
I think that in some ways it's very nice when things are rough to imagine there is someone there to pick you up. To say, "Hey, it'll all be okay." On the other hand though it's definitely scary to think that God might be watching every little thing we do. People today don't want to have to deal with the thought that we might have to actually own up to the things we do when we think know one is watching.
Oh, y'all were talking about the omnipresence of GOD! See, I was thinking about the omnipresence of terrestrial observers, like surveillance cameras, paparazzi, etc. Interesting that the omnipresence of God might make some of us behave a little better, while the omnipresence of some kind of camera makes us act more like jerks. In a world as crowded as this one is, there can't be any privacy. We're all in each others' faces all the time. So that leads to my previous response: it is what it is. I can't worry about that all the time, it destroys my hard-won serenity. My actions aren't for any observers, divine or human. They are done for their own sake and for the results they bring. But I will say this: God might have been watching you when you ran that red light because you were texting while driving; but it's the surveillance footage that will get you busted!
Resent or appreciate? Neither one. I prefer to accept it but not care about it! It is what it is.
The real question is how much of our privacy are we surrendering in the effort to feel validated by others? People post the most intimate (and banal) details of their life for the general consumption of strangers in an attempt to make someone sit up and take notice of them. Many people feel isolated in their lives and go overboard in getting someone, even a stranger, to pay attention. If half of the effort was spent connecting with people in a personal 50' radius as is spent connecting with strangers over the internet, we possibly could find the validation and the connections we need to survive.
My gut concern is that our generation has rendered ourselves largely incapable of making lasting and true connections face to face and flesh to flesh, preferring a digitalized version or ideal to the real thing every time...
I take great comfort in the fact that God sees everything. I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian that believes all of the Bible (yeah, one of those). What I understand from the Bible is that God sees everything in a different way than we do. He doesn't sit in front of a huge heavenly Sony TV and watch us. God already knows everything. He has always known everything. He has always know everything that we have done and are going to do in our lives. The good and the bad. He doesn't learn anything. Nothing that we do surprises Him.
One truth that I love about God is that even though He knows all of that about us, He loves us anyway. He "sees" all the stuff that we do in front of people and the things that we would only ever do in the privacy of our homes, and He loves us anyway. He loves us in spite of all the things that we do that hurt Him and other people.
Even if we wanted a little "me" time, that doesn't change God. There isn't any place that we could go or anything that we could do that we be hidden from Him. Because He is God, He cannot not know something. He knows everything. That's why I never try and approach/talk/spend time with Him with an attitude of pretense. Of course He is going to see right through that.
I know that this is totally missing the mark with some of you because you don't believe in God or even the concept of their being a God, but this is my view. And, it is only a small part of my view, but I didn't want to come as pretentious or preachy. It might be too late for that though. Thanks for letting me voice my opinion.
- LIFE's BIG QUESTIONS
- ATTACK A CHALLENGE
Omnipresence is really only a problem if God can't be totally trusted, but I believe that He can. I believe He's good and has always desired our good. So ya, I'd say trustworthiness is of central importance when discussing this issue.