My favorite picture of Jesus shows him laughing. It reminds me that the notion of Jesus laughing was a culturally destructive idea in The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I would have been in deep trouble in such a culture, because I have no trouble at all picturing Jesus laughing for joy at the innocence of children and the beauty of flowers or seeing his beloved disciples "get it" bit at a time. And I'm pretty sure that if God did not have a sense of humor, I would have been toast long before I began to understand what an awesome God is my God.
The whole idea of God is just tough to get our minds around. The Bible says we were made in God's image, but clearly we are a work in progress. Sometimes we wrongly attribute our "logic" to God, assuming that if we feel fear, God must fear and this leads us to thinking about "doing God wrong." Frankly, the older I get the more impossible I find this notion. I believe that God is so great, almighty, powerful, that I would not be able at my most out of control, rage-filled, despair have even the smallest capacity to affect God's, well, godness. That is why I am so amazed that God considers me at all: little, insecure, selfish, fearful creature, a breath in eternity that I am. But with all that, God finds God's "image" in me and calls me to a covenant of love, trust, growth, purpose and joy in my relationship with God.
God does all the heavy lifting, including bridging the chasm our willfulness and lack of trust caused, by letting Christ cover all our brokenness and by sending the Spirit of God to give us faith and expand our limited capacity to understand and respond. God does ALL the heavy lifting and asks only that we let down our walls enough to let the process begin.
Almighty God, beloved Father, when fear builds walls between us, pry my fingers open so that I might develop space and capacity to love you, trust you and receive Your abundant blessings more fully in my life. AMEN
Psalm 104:31 May the Lord’s glory continue forever! May the Lord enjoy what he made.
The whole idea of God is just tough to get our minds around. The Bible says we were made in God's image, but clearly we are a work in progress. Sometimes we wrongly attribute our "logic" to God, assuming that if we feel fear, God must fear and this leads us to thinking about "doing God wrong." Frankly, the older I get the more impossible I find this notion. I believe that God is so great, almighty, powerful, that I would not be able at my most out of control, rage-filled, despair have even the smallest capacity to affect God's, well, godness. That is why I am so amazed that God considers me at all: little, insecure, selfish, fearful creature, a breath in eternity that I am. But with all that, God finds God's "image" in me and calls me to a covenant of love, trust, growth, purpose and joy in my relationship with God.
God does all the heavy lifting, including bridging the chasm our willfulness and lack of trust caused, by letting Christ cover all our brokenness and by sending the Spirit of God to give us faith and expand our limited capacity to understand and respond. God does ALL the heavy lifting and asks only that we let down our walls enough to let the process begin.
Almighty God, beloved Father, when fear builds walls between us, pry my fingers open so that I might develop space and capacity to love you, trust you and receive Your abundant blessings more fully in my life. AMEN
Psalm 104:31 May the Lord’s glory continue forever! May the Lord enjoy what he made.
RSS Feed
