Perception of Gods Presence in Patons Novel Cry, the...

Theoretically, the Bible states that God is always present alongside his people. â€Å"Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.† Matthew 28:20. In the novel, Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, conveys a message that God’s presence is both acknowledged and ignored by the characters and a message to â€Å"love thy brother as yourself† (Matthew 19:19) through forgiveness in spite of of skin color. Foremost, Stephen Kumalo continuously seeks and lives in the presence of the Lord. Kumalo prays and asks God for help on a daily basis. â€Å"Tixo (God), watch over me, he says to himself. Tixo, watch over me (48).† Later, Kumalo’s prayers are answered and the readers can sense a†¦show more content†¦One of the reasons why he â€Å"no longer [goes] to the Church† is because â€Å"the Church too, is like the chief (67-68). John is convinced that like the chief , the church orders its followers to obey the laws, while neither the chief nor church have exactly the most updated understanding of the developing world surrounding them. God’s presence is nowhere to be found because John has ignored him, has decided to depend on himself rather than God and no longer wants be tied down by the church from doing as he wills. â€Å"Here in Johannesburg,† explains John â€Å"I am a man of some importance, of some influence. I have my own business (66).† God is completely absent from John’s life as he continues explaining how good his life is without God, about the white man’s trick and the injustice that is afoot. Because John concentrates most of his time, energy and life gaining more and more information for his inspirational speeches, it becomes his obsession, later his religion. Clearly, God’s presence is ignored by his passion for worldly truths rather than biblical ones. John’s religion, which is built upon a foundation of the world around him, will collapse down with its worldly problems. In general, John’s fascination with earthly needs and philosophy has separated him from God, thus causing John to stop seeking God’s company and making God seems absent. With this in mind, the reader can make a distinguishable difference between the characters that have God’s