by Reverend Cindy McCalmont

On Sunday morning in the Circle of Support Group, one of the members asked a question that gave us pause: Where is God in all the political chaos? I did a poor job of responding in the moment, but this morning the answer came to me with a jolt: God is where God has always been—in and with the vulnerable.

For you see, I realized I’ve seen God not once but twice in the last month. In both cases, it was a church member who is in Hospice Care–and in both cases, the Holy radiated from their smiles.

With one of these people, I wept. With the other, I sat absolutely still, not wanting the moment to end.

Make no mistake: terminal illness is horrific. Poverty is horrific. Homelessness is horrific. And the suffering around us is getting worse with every Executive Order.

But we who are followers of a crucified Savior know that God is not in the bellowing of the rich nor in the rants of the powerful.

Maybe the question to ask isn’t so much where is God as how can we draw near? With all the noise, how can we draw near to the One who is our rock?

Matthew 25 is clear: we draw near to God when we’re with the vulnerable. The sick. The hungry. The stranger. The imprisoned. It’s not just that we have a duty to be there. It is there that we’ll be blessed.