I also, as I grow in my understanding and experience of who "God" is, find my past images of "God" to be woefully inadequate. So in my ramblings, I may often use other terms for "God" in an effort to move beyond the limits of a churchy, sunday-school image of "God". I really like the name Paul Hawker uses, "The Source". I may also use "The Divine", "The Universe", etc. However, given all that, I have grown up in the church, and find it difficult to move beyond the language at times! So, forgive me when I begin to sound jargony! I want to say things in non-churchy language, but will likely slip into default verbiage often.
Years ago a mentor was using diagrams in teaching about the spiritual journey we are on. He taught us that our image of God ought always to be drawn with dotted lines, never solid, fixed lines. I believe that if the image of "God" in our minds is too fixed, too solid, we come dangerously close to idolatry. We create "God" in our own image!
As I have grown spiritually through my life, my own image of "God" has changed drastically. I would say that at present "God" to me is more akin to "the force" as used in Star Wars, than anything else. "The force be with you, Luke." Was it Obi-Wan Kenobi saying that? I see God's force, or spirit if you will, as being present through all the universe, in every living thing, indeed, in every created thing.
So, keep your image of "God" fluid! And I highly recommend the book quoted above. Check it out; it is a fantastic story. The full title: Soul Survivor: A Spiritual Quest Through 40 Days and 40 Nights of Mountain Solitude, Paul Hawker, 1998, Northstone Publishing, Inc.
I like the dotted-line idea. It implies something fluid, something that can be affected as well as affecting...and I believe God is affected by us humans. Jacob wrestled with God, obtaining a new name. Job dialogued heatedly with God, and both man and divine were changed. When Uzzah was struck dead for reaching out to steady the Ark of the Covenant when it wobbled on the cart transporting it to David's temple, David called a halt to the transport. He was angry with God, and not a little afraid. Three months later, the Ark continued its journey to David's temple...on the shoulders of human men. The place where the halt occurred was named "Breakthrough." (II Samuel 6)
ReplyDeleteGood blog, Dennis. Keep 'em coming (-;
I agree with Aunt Peggy here - great blog! I know that I may have sounded pretty harsh in my last comment, but I just wanted to make sure that we weren't throwing out the baby with the bathwater in our quest to understand God more fully. I will look for Hawker's book and give it a read. I want to make sure that I don't close my mind to God's word to us, but I will certainly always test it against His Word, as Paul implored us to do (test the spirits).
ReplyDeleteAs far as seeing God as "The Force," I may be a little too orthodox here. It seems "The Force" in Star Wars is a magical power to be conjured up when whoever was in tune to it needed it. It was also able to be used and twisted by Darth Vader, Darth Maul, any of the evil empire folks...a troublesome thought that doesn't agree with God's overarching reign and power over the universe and all that is in it. God cannot be manipulated and used for Satan's purposes, can He?
Thanks again Uncle Dennis! Fascinating and mind-stretching conversation we have going here!
This is a t est comment so not writing much jwv
ReplyDeleteConcerning the god. Small g. Since being a serious student of the Holocaust, and the lack of any help to the Jews, being relatives of Jesus, and using their names for our god, I really finally see that words about god, just do not seem adaqaute for what we expect or want, or understand about a god. Our post 19thand 20 century teachings, understandings, descriptions, just do not fit for our new century. I think like an evolutionist, even with its failings, I think like the person who can feel, see, touch, and all else is but description ofd which we know little. As an existentialist I follow what I believe is God. But get very nervous when I try to describe what I "know".
ReplyDelete