God can never be perfectly present to us here below on account of our flesh. But he can be almost perfectly absent from us in extreme affliction. This is the only possibility of perfection for us on earth. That is why the Cross is our only hope.

— Simone Weil

Most theists are deists most of the time, in practice if not in theory. They practice the absence of God instead of the presence of God.

— Peter Kreeft