Everything Everywhere All at Once
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ won an incredible seven Oscars last weekend. This included the big ones: Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Director (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert) and Best Picture.
The film is an eccentric, comedy-drama, which follows Evelyn Wang, a Chinese-American immigrant who must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse!
It was a most unusual winner, as it was not an ‘epic’ like other movies over the years. The main awards went to predominantly Asian actors, and it was made by an independent production company, written and directed by a relatively young creative duo known as ‘the Daniels’.
The film’s title did get me thinking. I have been taught that God is omnipresent, meaning God has the ability to be present everywhere at the same time. Which is very similar to the film’s title.
In the Bible, King David understood this about God, and wrote this…
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”
God is not contained by our structures, systems or timings. As a divine being, He is bigger and beyond all of that. The Bible also says that before this world was created, God was! Mind bending stuff!
King David got it, and was humbled, and so should we! We may not be able to comprehend that God can be omnipresent, but I have always thought that this is a good thing. If I can fully work out God, then I think it makes Him smaller, not bigger.
I think these verses can act in two ways: For some there is a great deal of comfort in knowing that wherever we may go, God is there. It also says to me, that even in places that seem very dark or apparently ‘godless’, that God is there – that brings me hope!
For others who have something to hide it can be uncomfortable. Knowing that God sees all that we do, say, and think. If I ever feel this way, I remind myself that God ‘is love’ and inherently good, and that he is for me, and wants to destroy anything that hinders me from knowing Him.
I don’t know how these verses make you feel? But I hope, and pray, that they are able to help you get a glimpse of this great God and somehow come closer to Him.
For me, the God of the Bible is the big winner. He was, is and will always be ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’.
God bless you :)
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader