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A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Mark Clavier, Canon Theologian for the Diocese of Swansea & Brecon.

Good morning. Yesterday, I was thinking about omnipresence: the idea that God, who wholly transcends everything, is also wholly present in everything. That I was reflecting on this may be due to my being a theologian. It may also be because I ate something that didn’t agree with me.

Actually, I knew that today is the sixty-fifth anniversary of the patent of the first integrated circuit.

The technologies it created, have, in turn, allowed countless goods and services to become omnipresent. Travel the world over, and you’ll find the same gadgets, cars, and appliances. You’ll also find people everywhere staring at the same screens.

Thanks to the integrated circuit, our world has grown massively smaller. And yet the space between us seems to have grown wider. The omnipresence of information is making our world confusing, and often destructive. It’s no coincidence that the distance between us and truth now seems impossible to navigate.

God’s omnipresence is different. It’s generative of life; it’s rooted in love…indeed, is the means and presence of love. God’s omnipresence is, therefore, less like the integrated circuit than the fresh air we breathe or the smile of human kindness we encounter in others.

Almighty God, who is closer to us than we are to ourselves and in whom all things consist, may we be so aware of your close love that we may never lose heart nor draw far from you or our neighbours. Amen.