Can You Draw Close to an Invisible God?

‘How can I develop a close relationship with someone I cannot see?’ you may ask. That might seem to be a valid question. But consider:

HOW important is sight to developing loving and lasting relationships? Are not unseen factors equally, if not more, important? Indeed! For that reason some people have developed a close relationship with others through regular correspondence​—their letters honestly conveying likes, dislikes, goals, principles, sense of humor, and other personality traits or interests.

Blind people too demonstrate that sight is not critical to developing a close relationship with another person. Consider the example of Edward and Gwen, a married couple who are blind. * Edward met Gwen at a school for the blind, where she was a fellow adult student. He admired Gwen’s qualities, especially her honesty in speech and conduct, and her excellent attitude toward work. In turn, Gwen was attracted to Edward because, in her words, “he displayed all the qualities I was brought up to believe were important.” A courtship budded, and three years later they were married.

“When you are together,” says Edward, “blindness does not really make a difference in building a relationship with another person. You might not be able to see each other, but feelings are not blind.” Now, 57 years later, they are still deeply in love. They explain that the secret to their wonderful relationship involves at least four things: (1) noticing the qualities of the other person, (2) thinking about and being drawn to those qualities, (3) maintaining good communication, and (4) doing things together.

These four points are vital to any good relationship, whether between friends, marriage partners or, more important, between humans and God. In the following article, we will see how applying these points can help us to develop a close relationship with God, even though we cannot see him. *

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