Metaphors for God

A God of visiting and nourishing. A God who strains toward humanity with gentle care. A mother God who protects. A father God who feeds. A brother God who embraced our flesh, who walked with us, felt with us, and couldn't bear to leave. A spirit God who puts fire in our hearts and words on our tongues so that we might care for each other

This quote from Words Made Flesh by Fran Ferder illustrates some of the many metaphors we use to describe God. Mother, father, brother, spirit. And there are so many more in both the Scriptures and in our faith tradition: king, shepherd, friend, judge, redeemer, to name just a few.

Dr. Eblen, my Hebrew Scriptures instructer, emphasizes that metaphors make an "is" claim, but they also always contain an "is not" claim. For example, a popular 80's song claims "life is a highway." And there are many ways we can compare life to highways--sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind; sometimes it's smooth sailing, other times you're stuck in gridlock. But life is actually not a highway. This is kind of a "duh" statement, right? We don't talk about the "is not" factor of metaphors because we all know that it's there; we just don't think about it.

We may say: "God is a warrior king." Okay, God may have qualities like a warrior king, but God is not a warrior king. We may say: "God is a gentle, merciful shepherd." Okay, God may have qualities like a gentle, merciful shepherd, but God is not a shepherd.

It's important for us to realize that all "God talk" is metaphorical. Anything we can say about God has an element of truth (the "is" claim) but there is also an "is not" claim. The reason we know this is that limited human language can never be used to fully capture the essence of a God who is mysterious and ultimately, beyond human understanding. We get in trouble when we forget that. For instance, "father" is one of the most common images of God. But as a result of this pervasive metaphor, how hard is it for some of us to ever imagine describing God as "mother" because we have forgotten the "is not" claim of the father metaphor?

This realization can be scary; how can we talk about God when everything we say about God has an "is not" claim attached to it? I think, ultimately, this enriches our communication about and with God. It frees us from the limitations of making "is" claims about God that are too strong. When we open up to the mystery of God, and allow ourselves to recognize that God will never fit into the boxes we would like to fit God into, we can move into a deeper, more intimate relationship with the God who actually is, rather than the God we want to be.

Almost Nothing

Brother John from Taizé was in town a few weeks ago. I was blessed to hear him speak and join in Taizé style worship while he was here.

During one of the opportunities for me to hear Brother John speak, he addressed the fact that we often feel discouraged that, in the face of tremendous suffering and injustice, we can bring "almost nothing" and when we say this, really deep down, we equate that with "nothing." We feel helpless that we can do nothing to improve the conditions of a wounded world. Brother John shared, however, that Brother Roger, the founder of Taizé, believed that "almost nothing" was actually a significant gift, and one that we are all called to give.

As Brother John relayed, Brother Roger was a "doer." Every time the community got word of a disaster or problem, Brother Roger would ask, "what can we do?" And sometimes, it meant they sent a bit of food, some money, or some brothers to help. What they did was "almost nothing." But it was not nothing, and it made a difference. And even more, large-scale efforts at aid can often become corrupted or at least co-opted by special interest groups, large overhead, greedy directors. Sometimes the large charities end up doing less than the "almost nothing" that people like you and I can bring to the world collectively.

I like this view of service. We needn't feel guilty for "not doing enough" or helpless in the face of adversity. We can bring our "almost nothing" to the table and watch it transform lives, including our own.

Postmodern Art?

A week ago on my way back to my apartment from the MA Pastoral Counseling program orientation, I noticed a plastic bottle dangling from a bush. Since it was dark out, I had no idea what I was looking at, but the next morning on my way to Hebrew Scriptures, I saw that it was a Mt. Dew bottle that someone had actually taped to the bush, and just a little way up the block there was an empty water bottle taped to a utility pole. The next day Kim came over and we walked to Hugo's Pizza, and on the way we saw a third bottle taped to a tree on E Alder.

This morning, the bottles are still there, over a week later. The Dr Pepper bottle dangling from the tree on E Alder had fallen off, which I suppose if this is really postmodern art, actually enhances the art of it.

Anyway, on to the pictures. Vandalism? Littering? Or postmodern art? You be the judge.

Eastern Wisdom

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and your water becomes clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?
-Tao Te Ching 15