In

"... God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me..." Galatians 1. 15-16

All this mourning and soul searching, which is refreshing our self-identity as a nation and re-affirming the values we share, is also revealing deeper realities within each of us. It is important to recognise what is going on because it alerts us to a truth that has been buried through the modern and port-modern ages we have been inhabiting. Rather than being an external concept that we can accept or reject according to our free will, God is within as well as around and beyond us. As St Paul discovered, whether or not we believe depends on our awareness of that fact.

It is like a lamp which can either be switched on, in order that we are flooded with light, or it can remain off, in which case we are left to grope around in the dark. Only God can manifest his presence in each of our beings but Jesus assures us all that, if we seek him with all of our heart, then God will not be slow to respond. Any apparent delay is for our own good - perhaps to teach us how much we need to let go of in order to possess the only thing that matters. Take heart, God is closer than you think!