"The world is charged with the grandeur of God" (Gerard Manley Hopkins). So I would want to assert that there is only one place in which to find God, and that is everywhere; for surely if the God we acknowledge and worship is located only in some places and not in others, only in some parts of our lives, our itineraries and lifestyle choices, and not in others, then we have a distance still to travel - we don't yet really know him. I am entranced and inspired by the example here of Francis of Assisi, who in his wonderful Canticle of the Sun, written when he was bed-ridden and almost blind, spoke of the praise of God as being found and given in and through all created things.
And so it is our sacred task, I believe, never to be content with a superficial awareness of the world, which, though we may delight in what is beautiful, or enjoyable, or useful to us, fails to comprehend more than that this or that pleases us. All that is made by God and given by God shines with the glory of God; and if this may not always be immediately apparent, it is a holy task to work at such a Godly awareness: as we do this we shall draw close to the creative power of our Maker, and shall find ourselves newly vulnerable to his love.
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