The following is an excerpt from a brief reflection I shared at the "Faith at Eight" service at church on Sunday, May 3, 2026, when I read Evelyn Underhill's poem "Immanence" to the other members of our group during our reflection period.
In today's reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves" (John 14:10-12).
I think that one of the themes of today's reading from John is God's immanence. Jesus is in God, and God is in him. God is in us, and we are in him.
Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), a British poet and novelist who wrote several books about religious mysticism, wrote a poem called "Immanence" (1916), which consists of three stanzas, each of which begins with the lines "I come in the little things,/Saith the Lord." The poem is rather formal in style and language, and it's an example of Edwardian poetry, which may use an archaic vocabulary and may strictly adhere to conventional meter and rhyme schemes. But one reason I found the poem to be quite resonant and meaningful was that it says God comes "in the little things."
We can feel God's presence among us. We can know God's immanence. But at the same time, we can't be aware of God's immanence without also being aware of God's transcendence. God's immanence and transcendence are inseparable. The mystery of God's presence is God's simultaneous immanence and transcendence. And I think that is also the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. When we consume the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist, God's presence is within us, and we are in God.The Holy Spirit can find a dwelling place within us. We can transcend ourselves if the Holy Spirit is within us. But God also transcends human reality.
Jesus is called Emmanuel because the name Emmanuel means "God with us." The name Emmanuel signifies God's presence. And the mystery of God's presence, immanently and transcendently, can be found everywhere we look for God.
