For most of human history God was not a likable, much less lovable, character. That’s why every “theophany” in the Bible (an event where God breaks through into history) begins with the same words, “Do not be afraid!” Why? Because people have always been afraid of God—and afraid of themselves, as a result. Humanity did not expect love from God before the biblical revelation. Even today most humans feel that God’s love and attention must be earned, and then we deeply resent that process, just as we do with our parents. In my experience, most people are still into fearing God and controlling God instead of loving God. They never really knew mutual love was possible, given the power equation. When one party has all the power—which is most people’s very definition of God—all you can do is fear and try to control. The only way fear can be dispelled is for God, from God’s side, to change the power equation and invite us into a world of mutuality and vulnerability. Our living image of that power change is called Jesus! In him, God took the initiative to overcome our fear and our need to manipulate God and made honest divine relationship possible. This unthinkable relationship is already planted in human consciousness with the Jewish idea of “covenant love.” Walter Brueggemann lists a “credo of five adjectives” that continually recurs in the Hebrew Scriptures: this God that Israel—and Jesus—discovered is consistently seen to be “merciful, gracious, faithful, forgiving, and steadfast in love.” The people who really know this to be true for themselves are those who sincerely seek, pray, and often, suffer. Richard Rohr, Adapted from Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, pp. 9-10
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 11:09:49 +0000
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