like a child

A child’s mere pencil sketch, is every religion’s best description of God…

                                         Hafiz

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What is God like?

It’s confusing you know

Everywhere we look we see adults

Pontificating about God

Today I ran across a guy one twitter

Whose self-description

Was, essentially

“Lover of guns, lover of God”

He was busy propounding that Covid-19

Is the fault of the LBGTQI community and abortion,

Richard Rohr was talking about how God is to be found in the darkness

And yet another was talking about how God is “only light”

Is suspect it is probably true

that, as they say, we create God in our own image

which is to say that the God we embrace

pretty much reflects our priorities and values

We “imprint” God with our stuff

Rather than allowing God to “imprint” us

For me, God and guns do NOT go together

For some, because they are about domination,

And see God as being about domination, they certainly do

So it raises the question about how we grab hold

of the true nature of God.

There is always Jesus, God with us.

If we want to know what God is like, we can look to him

How did Jesus live

How did Jesus love

How did Jesus treat people…..?

But of course, even that gets messy

Because we are pretty God at making Jesus into

Whom we want him to be

Just as we make God into our own creation

I find it interesting

That numerous times in the Bible

the image used for God is a parent

Father

Mother

Mother hen

Daddy

Which makes me think

That we should look at God

Like a child

Not an abused child

Betrayed child

Wounded child

Cowed child

But as a beloved child

Loved child

Perhaps even spoiled child

As a child who feels

Protected

Valued

Cared for

Nurtured

And loved

Above all else, loved

And whatever else we want to bring

Into our process of “defining” God

It must be subjugated to that image of God

As loving adult

Father/mother/grandmother/grandfather/aunt/uncle

That one who loves us

Without strings

That one who is always there

That one whose face lights up when they see us

That one who teaches and guides

That one who forgives

That one who comforts

That one who will do anything for us

Sacrifice anything for us

Give up his/her life for us

That one we can always run to

In joy

And in sorrow

Which is why I expect

That crayon drawing of God

I have

From my little buddy Ryan

Is probably as theologically astute

As those tomes by Pannenberg, Moltmann

Bultmann, Brunner, Barth, Niebhur

That sit gathering dust upon my shelves

That drawing

Of a very round

And jolly God

With a warm smile

And open arms