Photos: Kenny Joseph

The shadows in the sand in this photo reveal the presence of trees that are not visible.

Yet we know they are there. Often this is how we experience God.

Recently I have been challenged by some questioning young people about the existence of God. They find it hard to believe in a God who lets tsunamis happen or who would (so they have been told) send them to Hell for missing Sunday Mass!

My attempts to prove God's existence and to change their notion of God did not impress! I've come to believe that rather than try to prove God exists we really need to experience His presence.

We get a hint of God in the haunting smell of unseen roses, in a first love, in holding one's newborn baby for the first time, in the shadows present in everyday events. To come to this perception, the modern person has to be less busy so as to find the time to develop contemplative muscles!

I remember as a child when August meant Mayaro, we would peer out of the car window looking for the first glimpse of the sea. Then, as if it were a miracle, we would exclaim, “The Sea! The Sea!”

That sense of wonder gets lost in our pragmatic age. God always comes if we remain as little children.