Fourteen years ago I initiated a weekly faith-sharing group. Though topics differed the underlying focus was always the question: “What is my image of God?” Our weekly meeting developed into a journey searching for a better God. That may sound like a very strange pursuit. After all, isn’t God already perfect? So why would anyone search for a better God?
Yes, of course, God is ultimate perfection. But we, the creatures of this God, have many questions about our Maker. What kind of God allows bad things to happen? How do we believe in God when children die? Why do we suffer? Does everything happen for a reason? We may have grown up with a God who instills fear of judgment, or a God who looks down on us from a distance. Our hearts yearn for a Beloved Presence who lives with us.
To be clear, it is not a better God we need, but a better image of God. Therefore when searching for a better God, it’s a journey to meet the true God, our tremendous Lover We want to know the one who molded us in our mother’s womb. We seek the One who loves us unconditionally, the one in whose embrace we are safe.
Why Do We Need a Better God?
And why is our image of God so important? Why is the God “in our head” so vital to our growth as spirit-driven humans? The first part of the answer is because we become the God we worship. The God “in our head” fashions our heart. If the “Head God” judges, then mercy, empathy and compassion may be words but not values. If the “Head God ” is a rule-keeper, the heart will find it hard to understand how or when to break a rule.
The second reason our God-image is so important is because the God we live with influences everything we do: how we pray; how we deal with joy and sorrow; how we accept success; how we live with failure; how we define God’s will; and how we live with questions that do not seem to have answers. The God inside is the God we proc““““““““““““““““““““““`laim to the world. The God we know is the God we make visible to our children, to our neighbors, to all we meet.
Our First Image of God
It is likely that our first image of God came from the prime reward-punishment model of our childhood. Santa Claus “inspired” us to be good so that we would receive the gifts we desired. And we were taught to expect punishment if we did not behave. This quid pro quo arrangement with Santa made sense of our world. Therefore it is easy to understand how God became a Santa-God. And heaven became the reward for doing good. Purgatory and hell fulfilled the punishment requirement.
But Santa was good for us. As children we needed to learn the rules; to learn the consequences of our deeds. As we read in 1 Corinthians,13:11, “When I was a child I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child.” Our childhood was a time of necessary learning. But as we grow not only in age but also in wisdom, we accept the challenge of putting behind us the ways of childhood.
From Santa-God to Adult Faith
If we want to move into an adult faith, we may be hindered by a fear of questioning our faith. In his 2018 Apostolic Exhortation on the Call to Holiness in the World(Gaudete Et Exsultate) Pope Francis speaks to the dangers of requiring strict adherence to our interpretation of our faith:
43 It is not easy to grasp the truth that we have received from the Lord. And it is even more difficult to express it. So we cannot claim that our way of understanding this truth authorizes us to exercise a strict supervision over others’ lives. Here I would note that in the Church there legitimately coexist different ways of interpreting many aspects of doctrine and Christian life; in their variety they “help” to express more clearly the immense riches of God’s word”
44 In effect, doctrine, or better, our understanding and expression of it, “is not a closed system, devoid of the dynamic capacity to pose questions, doubts, inquiries… The questions of our people, their suffering, their struggles, their dreams, their trials and their worries, all possess an interpretational value that we cannot ignore if we want to take the principle of the incarnation seriously. Their wondering helps us to wonder, their questions question us.”
Finding Joy
An ending thought from one of my favorite authors, Fr, Richard Rohr: “If our religion has no deep joy and no inherent contentment about it, then it is not the real thing. If our religion is primarily fear of self, the world, and God; if it is primarily focused on meeting religious duties and obligations, then it is indeed a hard yoke and heavy burden.” So I invite you to continue on your journey to a better God, the God who is in love with you.
This morning I received an email announcing the birth of a child. And the mother said, “She is beautiful and perfect.” Then she added, “Of course I’m biased.” Is this not what your Creator says to you: “You are beautiful and perfect ” And yes, our Creator God is biased! Listen as God speaks to you each day, “You are my beloved son.” and “You are my beloved daughter.
Come to me; let us walk together”