Isn’t it funny how tricked we get with complexity sometimes? All this philosophy and theology, and yet God simply is. When Moses asked God (in the burning bush) who to tell the Israelites from whom Moses was sent, God simply replied: “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:14 NRSV). Nothing fancy, no theological arguments on the nature of God, the Trinity, or anything. Just I am.
Every year, the Greek Orthodox Church in Norfolk holds a Greek Festival. There is great food, music, and various Greek (and some Russian Orthodox) goods for sale. This year, I decided to buy an icon (actually three, but it only one Greek icon.) I bought one of St Athanasios. Since then, I have been looking at different information about his life and his work and found this great quote on Jesus.
“God became human that we might be made god.”
St Athanasios
He is not a lot of people’s favorite saint, but I thought that was a great quote.
God died,
I hear they found him
On the floor in his house
But we didn’t get the paper
So nobody knows
I found this on the Lectio Divina Group and thought it was worth posting.
You can believe two of the three following statements, but not all three:
1.) God wills to save all men
2.) God is powerful enough to save all men
3.) Some men will go to Eternal Torment
Of course, I suppose it is possible to believe all three as God is bigger than our understanding and because of the classical Christian belief that God is omnipotent (all-powerful) and people have free will, but it is still an interesting Christian koan.
[Note: I am using ‘what’ below instead of ‘who’ not because I do not think that God is not personal, but rather because God is so much more than that. Also, if I slip into using male pronouns for God, know that I only do so because writing he/she is awkward and writing it seems demeaning to such a thing as God. God has no gender.]
Today I was pondering the question “What is God?” I realized I could not exactly answer this question in my head, but it made sense that the easiest way to know that I was going down the right path was to ask, so I did. The response (from God, or from that little voice in my head that makes more sense sometimes than my actual head) responded “Only by practice can you know me.”
The more I think about this, the more I understand. God cannot be defined by any sort of communication. What I mean by this is that while statements like “God is Love” or “God is One.” are true, the big picture is a lot more than that. We cannot understand God unless if we practice.
What do I mean by practice? It could be prayer, fellowship, or study, but I think the most effective way would be meditation, a practice I have only recently started again formally. A more fundamental Christian may find fault with this, but while I am writing I am reminded of Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God!” (New Revised Standard Version)
“Cease striving and know that I am God;” (New American Standard Version)
When God came to Elijah at the mountain, when Elijah was full of despair, God was not in the earthquake, fire, or wind but in silence (1 Kings 19:11-14)!
Of course there are other verses in the Bible, in other Jewish and Christian books, in the works of Buddhism and Hinduism, etc. but there is simply not time today to write about that, and I wanted to make sure to write this down before I lost inspiration. Also, given my current situation, the Bible is probably the best place to see this kind of talk (after all, I expect it other writings.)
This was just inspiration today to meditate and listen more. Not only will it be relaxing after work, but practicing will bring enlightenment.
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