I know, ridiculous, right?
But we do it all the time. We do it with how we describe God and our experience. We do it by limiting the sphere within which we think She operates! We think we have the market on anything that relates to God! Of course, we always add a disclaimer, “He is so much more…!” I have realized that the words used in the past are not just limiting or insufficient, some are just wrong!
Almighty, All Powerful, Omnipotent: Of course we want to believe that The One has it all under control, can do whatever, whenever. It is an issue of control. We want a god that can step up and deal with whatever is going on in the world and in our lives and deal with it decisively. But reality shouts a different truth altogether. That is just not how things work. We don’t pray some perfect, faith filled prayer and everything gets better! There is no magic way to convince the Great One to zap our problems or even end world hunger or give peace a chance! The power of God is not definable in terms of control. It is not a worldly power that commands and demands. The Power is one of influence, cooperation and patience.
We hear this word “all-powerful” and think of a king in the sky who can do anything he pleases just because he is king. If we import this kind of human metaphor into the word ‘omnipotens’ we are not allowing the character of the Abba to redefine it for us. Our Abba is not like earthly rulers, who lord it over others . We know this because we see Jesus as a servant of all. Our Abba is ‘omnipotens’ in a beautiful way. Potens = power or potential. Our Abba is the one of all potential, of endless possibility. With our Abba, all things are possible… Our Abba is not just full of infinite possibility , but of creative infinite possibility. Our Abba is not just an arbitrary deity who can do anything he/ she wants because after all, he/ she is God. No, our Abba is a God whose possibilities are creative or life oriented. Creation is alive, full of life, robustly manifesting life. Our Abba is a life-giver. Our Abba calls light out of chaos, out of darkness. Our Abba brings life to the grave. Our Abba transforms the decaying, dying cosmos into new creation all the time. Our Abba is full of life-giving possibility.
Hardin, Michael (2014-02-27). What The Facebook? (p. 172). . Kindle Edition.
Omniscient, All-Knowing: Does He know how we will respond to his love or does She know when someone is going to fly a plane into a building and kill thousands? If we couple these two descriptions together, it would seem to me we are describing an accomplice to all the worlds tragedies! I don’t know the answer. There certainly has been a belief that this God who we worship has knowledge beyond our understanding. Both scripture and tradition speak in terms of this knowledge being immense. I would prefer to hold this idea loosely rather than implicate the God of all love in the genocide of the human race!
Immutable: This big word suggests that there is no changing in God. I don’t see it that way at all! I think God is a wild, flowing, ecstatic love that is in constant movement toward us and changing to adapt to our decisions and grasping for opportunities to show us the path!
When we look at the universe we speak of ‘natural law’ and assume that somehow things are fixed or permanently set. Did you know that measurements of the speed of light fluctuate? The one supposed great constant in the universe of physics changes ! Imagine that. Can you imagine a physical universe that is open to infinite possibilities and that is not static? Quantum physicists can and do! Our Abba is a God of incredible possibilities.
Hardin, Michael (2014-02-27). What The Facebook? (p. 172). . Kindle Edition.
Sovereign: This one just gives me hives! This is Almighty, Omniscient on steroids! I picture an angry faced emperor slamming his crown on the ground and yelling “It will be done because I said so, screw those minions!”
I realize that there is a more generous version of this concept but I just can’t think of it… not with Calvinists screaming “God hates you!” I am also reminded of the story of a young woman in my study group who recently described how a local church explained divine selection (god has already determined our eternal destiny.) She said that the leader in a class for new members told her that we all have an invisible stripe on our back (if we are lucky!) Those chosen have been pre-ordained to eternal life. Those with no lucky stripe are doomed!
I say “Run!”
Holy: I know this one has merit, but I still get pictures of Puritans casting out those who did not conform (they may have shown a little too much leg!) The accused were nearly always women who were cast off, ostracized or killed (think Salem witch trials or American Indians.)
I am certain that this Great Energy is not us. He is above and beyond us, in some sense. But the whole purity code and morality drive of the American church just makes me want to puke! Holiness is about love and kindness not what you do in your bedroom or whether you “smoke, drink or chew or go with girls who do!”
Please, while we are concerned about the morals of others, we can’t seem to portray to the world any hope that we won’t kill each other in the process!
If I want to describe God in the limited capability that is our language, I see how some of these words may be helpful. But frankly, the best way I know to describe The Beautiful One is for you to listen to this song: Take a moment to listen! (click on the title)
“Helpless” by Neil Young
- There is a town in north Ontario, With dream comfort memory to spare, And in my mind I still need a place to go, All my changes were there. Blue, blue windows behind the stars, Yellow moon on the rise, Big birds flying across the sky, Throwing shadows on our eyes. Leave us
- Helpless, helpless, helpless
- Baby can you hear me now? The chains are locked and tied across the door, Baby, sing with me somehow. Blue, blue windows behind the stars, Yellow moon on the rise, Big birds flying across the sky, Throwing shadows on our eyes. Leave us
- Helpless, helpless, helpless
There is only one word that could come close to explaining God or this song… Transcendence!
There is something about the music and the words as they roll like waves over my cracked heart! This Indescribable makes me believe there is something, someone beyond me yet not away from me! Someone interconnected, but more than me!
I know that science can provide all kinds of reasons why our emotions and our brains create this sensation and we may have been pre-programmed to label it as God. But to me it is much more personal, too intimate to explain in scientific terms only. Maybe it is just the story I choose to place myself in and I build my understanding within this context but it is beautiful and compelling.
A God who cannot be described but is ever with me, in me. We are knit together! He is in between every molecule of star dust from which I am made! A God who became and is every bit human in Jesus of Nazareth. Made human to show us another way, a way that defeats the powerful control of violence and sacrifice and reveals that we can all walk on a new and better path of love, forgiveness and mercy.
Religion often tries to define and describe God as if She could be contained within our words. But even our attempts to use the Omni-words just fall flat! What if this God, this energy, this whirlwind of love is beyond description?
Can we live with that?
Can we just listen to the music and acknowledge that there is a Something that is ever moving, changing, revealing and loving the world?
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