49. How God is in His creatures
49. HOW GOD IS IN HIS CREATURES
When I meet God in His creatures, should I see them as mirrors or as paintings? Do I find His light by looking away from them or by looking at them? Do I find God more by seeing through them and leaving them behind, or by seeing into them, by entering more into the nature and operation of each creature?
Some have understood God to work in every agent in such a way that no created power has any effect in things, but that God alone is the immediate cause of everything wrought—for instance, that it is not fire that gives heat, but God in the fire, and so forth.
But this is impossible. First, because the order of cause and effect would be taken away from created things, and this would imply lack of power in the Creator; for it is due to the power of the cause that it bestows active power on its effect.
Secondly, because the active powers which are seen to exist in things would be bestowed on things to no purpose if these wrought nothing through them. . . .
We must therefore understand that God works in things in such a manner that things have their proper operation (I,105,5).
The error St. Thomas opposes here is the error of the Asharites among Muslim philosophers: the denial of secondary causality, the denial of creatures’ own identity and power. In Western philosophy this is called “occasionalism” because it sees creatures as incapable of acting themselves; they are mere “occasions” for God to act. The Hindu Upanishads also see God in this way, as “the Thinker of every thought, the Doer of every deed”.
But a God Who envied creatures their own identity and power would be a weak God, not a strong one. The God Who lovingly lavishes identities and powers throughout His creation is the strong God, not the weak one. “I’m going to beat you up” is the word of the bully, who tries to compensate for his own perceived weakness. The bully has to fill his own inner emptiness. “I love you and I want to win your love” is the word of the self-assured one, who has extra fullness to give. That is why love is the supreme power.
God is really present in all things in their own unique natures and actions. God’s greatness is revealed in the fact that He does not shout so that the voices of creatures cannot be heard. He speaks in a still, small voice. Like light, He is Himself invisible and makes all things visible. He is anonymous: He hides in things, He lets things be themselves. Even God is humble; how can we be proud?
The knowledge of creatures does not distract from the knowledge of God, but reveals it. All truth is God’s truth.
But the love of creatures can distract us from the love of God if it is a disordered love, a love that is not for God’s sake, a love of a creature instead of God. In other words, it can be idolatry, the violation of the first and greatest commandment. But it can also be an ordered love, a love of His creatures that is motivated by the love of God and that leads to a greater appreciation of God. Loving the Artist and loving His art naturally reinforce each other. They do not by nature rival each other.