Going Beyond the Visible

Going Beyond the Visible

1991 5-6 May-June 22 Going Beyond the Visible (372) People generally talk about ‘community’ problems or, at best, are to be found discussing the superficial aspects of religion; no one seems interested in its meaningful aspects. This is probably because it is only visible objects which attract man’s attention. In the past as well as the present, it has been extremely difficult for him to direct his attention towards the invisible.

Man makes those things his deities which are visible. He fails to understand how things which cannot be seen with the naked eye can be the focus of human attention. He becomes easily involved with whatever can be seen and comprehended externally, but he does not know how to concern himself with those things which-he cannot see. He well understands the importance of whatever presents itself before him in a perceptible form, but he ignores anything which he cannot perceive.

This worship of natural phenomena, which finds its final, extreme expression in the form of polytheism, is a man’s greatest weakness. A consequence of this weakness is apparent in man’s inability to progress in his faith.

A polytheist is one who, apart from his refusal to believe in the one, unseen God, associates godhead with certain seeable objects. An atheist, on the other hand, is one who directly rejects the existence of God on the grounds that he cannot see Him. These are extreme types of religious backsliding.

But there is another aspect of the matter which it is equally important to discuss from the point of view of its consequences, that is, the ineffectiveness of faith despite its acceptance. This happens when man expresses his faith in God, but fails to see Him. He believes in God, but fails to realize the profundity of godhead. He is a devotee of God, but fails to rise above his tangible world in order to make God the centre of his attention.

Not to apprehend the unseen God amounts to failure to find the hidden significance of His existence. There are many people in this world who are prepared to revere the possessors of material wealth, while ignoring the Almighty who is rich in spiritual treasures. Those who ignore God in this way are finally the losers in terms of spiritual meaningfulness.