One day, my daughter asked me a simple but profound question: “Where is God?”

It’s the kind of question that sounds easy—until you actually try to answer it, especially to a child.

I was reminded of a video by Swami Chinmayananda where a child asks their mother the same question. She replies, “God is everywhere.” That answer makes sense—until the child starts following the logic all the way through.

“Is God in my room?”
“Yes.”
“Is God in my blanket?”
“Yes.”
“Then why do I have to go to a temple or a church?”

At that point, most parents get stuck. The idea of God being everywhere is abstract even for adults, let alone for children who think in concrete terms. The challenge isn’t belief—it’s explanation.

In the video (which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/7LLvy-D7mn4?si=D8I0QnyY8TW-iP4c), Swami Chinmayananda offers a beautiful analogy.

Imagine you gently poke a child. They’ll immediately say, “Ouch.” If you then ask, “Where is the pain? Show it to me,” the child can’t. The pain is real—undeniable—but it can’t be pointed to or held. It’s an experience, not an object.

He suggests that God can be understood in much the same way. God isn’t necessarily something you see or locate. God is something you experience.

He then gives another analogy that makes the idea even clearer.

Think about the government. We say things like, “The government takes care of this,” or “The government owns that,” or “The government made this decision.” In that sense, the government is all around us—it affects our lives constantly.

But where exactly is the government?

It’s not a single building. It’s not one person. It’s a system, a presence, something distributed and abstract. And yet, if you actually want to engage with the government—to make something happen in your life—you go to a specific place. You go to the headquarters. You go to Washington, D.C. You meet the people who have the authority to create real change.

His point is simple but powerful: temples and churches function the same way.

God may be everywhere, but these places exist to help people connect, focus, and experience that presence more deeply. They aren’t proof of where God is—they are environments designed to make the experience of God more accessible.

It’s a thoughtful way to explain something that’s otherwise very difficult to put into words. And honestly, it didn’t just help me think about how to answer my daughter’s question—it gave me a clearer way to think about the question myself.