Why should I go to church, isn't God supposed to be everywhere? — recently I heard this phrase again in one of the countless videos on the social media. Well, God really is everywhere. He created and maintains in existence every cell of your body and, in fact, every quantum in the universe. Everything that exists — the clouds above your head, the wind on your face, and the earth under your feet — exists only by His will, and thanks to His unceasing loving presence.
He cares about all creation, and, undoubtedly, he hears every prayer of every person, no matter where they call to Him — from church, from home, from the forest, from the subway. God loves all of His creation, all the people, be they pious or not, the ones going to every church service and the ones passing by a church without even looking at it.
But the love of God is not overprotective, He does not grab a person by the collar every time the make a wrong choice. People can do wrong things, contrary to what God has planned for them. Often they end up doing great harm to themselves, their neighbors, and the universe as a whole. You and I are loved by Him - this love is sincere and unconditional, but we can turn away, run away, neglect this love, and, as a result, finally go into terrible darkness from which there is no return.
God is everywhere — in the Church and in the restaurant, but the people gathered either of these places have different goals and intentions. Some seek God, others reject or simply ignore Him.
The inevitable question here is — what are we looking for? What is it that we want from this life?
There are people who are interested in, say, mountaineering. They get together to train, they discuss what equipment is best to buy and how to organize a trip. If someone told us that you can think about mountaineering anywhere (which, of course, is true), and therefore he does not need to communicate with other climbers, we would most likely assume that he is not interested in mountaineering at all.
Or take people that do reconstructions of historical battles/ They also devote a lot of energy to their hobby, and spend a lot of time together. The same can be said about any group of people who have some kind of common interest.
People who are interested in God also gather together with pretty much the same purpose - they want to recognize God as the Master in their lives, confess their sins to Him and accept His forgiveness, give Him thanks and glory, ask for His help and guidance, perform the Sacraments established by Christ. Now ask yourself - "Do I want to be one of these people"? Or don't I ?
But of course, Christianity can't be a hobby, like mountaineering or reenactment. God is the most important thing in the world. Missing out on Him means we end up missing out on the only kind of life that matters.
And though geographically it does not really matter where you are — the choice that leads you to this or that place is important. If you are interested in mountains, you go to the mountains. If you are interested in God, you go to Church.