Scarlett was about two years old when she learned how to play hide and seek. I am about two decades older and at least somewhat more competent and developed than Scarlett, which provided me with significant advantage in the game. I could have hidden for hours without her ever finding me. There’s no question about it. I could hide in the closet, under the stairs, or simply leave the premises and grab some coffee. But she was two years old, and she is my daughter, so I did not hide that long at all.
Nevertheless, the important point is that I could have hidden from toddler Scarlett as long as I wanted to. I could have hidden from her for so long that she grows up without a father. Just imagine Scarlett’s teenage friends someday asking her, “Where is your father?” To which she would reply begrudgingly: “Over ten years ago we started a game of hide and seek and I never found him. That’s what happened to my father.” Of course, no one would believe her.
An adult can hide from a toddler in a game of hide and seek because the adult is older, more developed, and more familiar with the surroundings. If an adult could easily hide from a toddler during a game of hide and seek, how much easier would it be for supernatural beings to hide from us?
The concern here is not that God is hiding from us — He is not. We are more than likely hiding from Him. The concern is for those higher beings who are not God or of God and their whereabouts. The existence of demons, devils, and evil spirits might seem like theater – but who would know? And what if they are, indeed, just hiding?
The idea of Scarlett growing up without a father because of an extended game of hide and seek was hypothetical. The idea of the human subject existing without a subject above himself could also be considered a hypothetical – although it is much less comical.
The friends asking Scarlett about the location of her father asked a realistic question. Similarly, our questions about the location of God are realistic, as this question is asked all of the time in one way or another. Scarlett had an answer to the question of her father’s absence, and it was not an imaginary answer – but who would believe her? The biblical answer to the question of God’s absence is not an imaginary answer either – but who would believe it?
[This is an excerpt from my upcoming book, “Saving the Subject: How I Found You When I Almost Lost Me.” Subscribe to this blog to receive updates on its release.]
Cameron Fathauer 