Our Image of God - 1
Dear Friends,
What is your image of God? What words, phrases, maybe sentences would you use to describe God? How do you see God? What is God like to you?
As I am writing this reflection, I am in my personal prayer space located in my bedroom. I have here a small reproduction (very inexpensive) of a seventh century Coptic icon. The icon depicts Christ not as a king or ruler but as our friend. It presents Jesus holding the Book of the Gospels, standing next to a Coptic saint. Jesus is resting his arm on the shoulder of this saint with these words in a border below the painting: “I call you my friends.” These words are from the Gospel of John 15:15. The word gospel finds its origin in Old English and literally means good news. So, the message of this icon is clear: the good news is that Jesus is our friend. This lies at the very heart of the gospel. It is wonderful news to be able to image God as my or our friend.
I and many of us have not always seen God that way. When I was a child and teen, I saw God as a distant, stern, older man, as a type of accountant (although I would not have used that word then) who was watching and counting our good deeds and bad deeds, and as a judge who would eventually decide whether to reward us with heaven or punish us with hell. I did not see God as a friend. The result was that my primary feeling in relation to God was fear. I was afraid of God and felt that I had to do everything possible to earn God’s love, if in fact God were really loving. In truth, I felt that I had to earn salvation. This fear of a distant God led me and many of us in those days to go to confession often out of fear. I had to carefully remember everything bad that I did and the exact number of times that I did it. If I didn’t remember and confess exactly, I would not be forgiven and might end up in hell. If I did confess fully, that would keep me in the state of grace.
I think my early image of God was the image of many Catholics, maybe many Christians in general. And just imagine: we would dare to call that good news.
More on the image of God in next week’s Inbox Inspirations.
Father Michael Schleupner
Our Image of God - 2
Dear Friends,
Why is our image of God so important? In a way, the answer is very simple. We become like the person we respect or adore. One author says, “Most of us recognize that we become like our parents whom from early on we adore, even with all their faults. We may not realize that we also become like the God we adore.”
With our parents, isn’t it true that we often learn and repeat words and expressions that they say? Isn’t it true that we develop attitudes and even ways of behaving like theirs, at least in our younger years?
The same thing is true with God and maybe even more so. The way we understand God, what we think God is like, has a great influence on who we become. After all, Genesis tells us that we are made in the image and likeness of God. So, if we have a certain image of God and if we are to be like God, then that image will be very crucial. We will allow it to influence how we relate to God, how we feel about ourselves, and how we treat others. For example:
· If we see God as distant and far off, we will probably not feel close to God and will not feel warmth or comfort in our relationship with God. Maybe this will also carry over into a discomfort with closeness in other relationships.
· If we see God primarily as the divine accountant keeping a ledger of our good and bad deeds, we might feel very guarded and defensive in relation to God. In fact, we may simply be afraid of God, and fear may dominate our faith.
· If we see God as vindictive and punishing us for doing bad things, we may be inclined to become vindictive and punishing of others. Once again, we become like the God we adore.
I will continue with more on this next week, in the Inbox Inspirations of September 28. I believe that that our image of God is crucial. It can have profound effects. An incorrect or distorted image of God can have harmful effects upon us.
Father Michael Schleupner
Quotation above from Good Goats-Healing Our Image of God by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn.
Our Image of God - 3
Dear Friends,
In last week’s Inbox, I asked the question: Why is our image of God so important? In a way, the answer is very simple. We become like the person we respect or adore. This is true when it comes to God and our relationship with God. As I began sharing last week, if our image of God is inaccurate, this can have harmful effects on us. To continue with last week’s thoughts:
· If we see God primarily as a judge who will condemn and just do away with some people and cast them into the eternal fires of hell, we may assume that we too can and should do the same. We might do this with those who believe or think differently or with those who have done something wrong. Think of the Inquisition and treatment of those whose faith was suspect in past centuries. Think of our attitudes toward capital punishment over the centuries. Even think of the horrendous wars fought by Christian nations among themselves often in the name (image) of God.
· If our image is of an angry God, then we might not feel any need to examine our own anger. Here I do not mean a situational anger, where we are angry about something that has happened. Anger is an emotion given us by God and it has its place at times. Here I am talking about a general or pervasive type of anger, as when we are always feeling about things. The image of a God who is basically angry may lead us to feel justified and normal, even holy in this anger. That can be very harmful to us and to others.
· If we see God as tribal, then we too may engage in tribalism. Here the word tribal means exalting one group above all others and probably taking measures to exclude those who are not of your group. If we see God as tribal in these ways, then we too may become tribal in our attitudes and behavior. We may do this as individuals or even as a Church.
I believe that the possible images of God that I have cited last week and today are incomplete. They are not accurate images of God based on the full revelation of God given us in Jesus Christ. Next week’s Inbox will start looking at a fuller and more positive way of seeing our image of and relationship with God. And yes, this will have effects on how we look upon ourselves and how we treat others.
Father Michael Schleupner
Some of the above thoughts are inspired by Good Goats-Healing Our Image of God by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn.
Our Image of God - 4
Dear Friends,
Our image of God, as I have said in the Inbox Inspirations over the last several weeks, is crucial. It affects not just how we relate to God, but even how we feel about ourselves and relate to others. To express my own image of God in a positive way, I first want to go back to the beginning – the Book of Genesis.
· We have traditionally looked upon Genesis as revealing the sin of the first human beings, Adam and Eve. We call this Original Sin. We have seen this as affecting all of Adam and Eve’s descendants and that means every person born into this world. We have looked upon humanity as tainted or even corrupted by this Original Sin. We have held that even innocent infants need to be cleansed of this. We have also said that if infants died before baptism, they would not go to heaven but would go to limbo because of this Original Sin.
· More recently, some of our theologians are seeing the story of the fall in a different way. They see this as an expression of the human condition. We are all born into the same reality. And this reality has some negative dimensions. We all experience some struggle in our relationships with one another. We all struggle with our own identity and purpose in life and ultimately with our relationship with God. We are not morally culpable for this condition or innately corrupted by it. But we do live in it and struggle because of it.
· With this understanding, the Sacrament of Baptism is not just a cleansing of sin that we ourselves did not personally commit. More than that it is our initiation into a life with Christ. It is the beginning of an opportunity to live life and to deal with life’s struggles with Jesus as our companion and with the Holy Spirit alive within us. Additionally, Baptism initiates us into a community of faith that we call the Church. This is to be a support for us on the journey of life. This community is to be a channel for receiving the authentic Word of God and for receiving the sacraments that follow Baptism and are our nourishment for the journey.
I see the above understanding as a foundation for an image of God that I will try to express and build beginning in next week’s column.
Father Michael Schleupner
Our Image of God - 5
Dear Friends,
In last week’s Inbox, I shared a more recent understanding of Original Sin and the Sacrament of Baptism. This understanding does not leave us human beings feeling tainted, much less corrupt. It does not leave us feeling unworthy and separated from God. Instead, it leaves us feeling human and imperfect, sometimes sinful, but at the same time esteemed and even loved by God. It assures us of God’s presence in us as God’s creatures. Today I am continuing to build this image of God which is so vital for our faith and our life itself.
Traditionally, we have seen God as distant and, as said above, separated from us by Original Sin and by our individual personal sins. Our thinking has been that our connection or relationship with God was and is only restored through the saving work of Jesus.
I now see Jesus as revealing a God – his Father – who has been and always is with us. God is, to use Jesus’ word, our Father, our heavenly parent who always embraces us with his love. So, “Jesus did not restore a lost relationship with God but revealed and gave us the ability to see and experience the Divine Love that was and is always available to us.” I resonate with this understanding of Jesus and God. It just seems to connect with our human experience.
We believe that Jesus reveals himself to us as the full revelation of the Father. He is the Word made flesh, the Son. With this in mind, we are to accept him as our Savior if we are to be his followers or disciples.
I also like to see it this way. Jesus reveals who God is and what God is like. In seeing and knowing Jesus, we know God and what God is like. Jesus calls into a loving relationship with God who is love itself. By doing this, Jesus also reveals who we are – our true self, “as always and forever beloved” of God. And so, in Jesus we can discover and become our true selves as persons. What a positive way this is for looking upon our spiritual life and earthly journey!
I will continue these thoughts on the image of God in next week’s Inbox Inspirations.
Father Michael Schleupner
The above quotations and inspiration for some of the above are from The Transformed Heart by Tom Zanzig.
Our Image of God -6
Dear Friends,
In last week’s Inbox, I began expressing an image of God that is grounded in an understanding of ourselves as human and imperfect, sometimes sinful, but at the same time esteemed and even loved by God. This Inbox continues to build this image of God which is so vital for our faith and our life itself.
Traditionally, we have seen ourselves as saved by God through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. We have sometimes used the word “ransom” to express this – meaning that Jesus had to ransom us from the devil by dying on the cross. We have also said that the Father sent Jesus to do this in reparation for human sinfulness. Jesus, in effect, took the place of or stood in for all of humanity by suffering and dying for our sins.
From my reading of some recent Catholic authors, I wonder if we could also look at it this way. Would an almighty and all-loving God have to require the death of his Son for the salvation of humanity? Is it possible that “Jesus didn’t need to embrace the cross to pay back a God whose love was limited. Rather, Jesus died to convince us that God’s love has no limits.” So, Jesus lived his life and fulfilled his mission in this world so perfectly and so authentically that opposition was bound to arise. His suffering and death were the outcome of a life of love and the fullest and most complete expression of his or God’s love for us.
In our tradition, we have sometimes looked upon life on this earth as a “valley of tears” and as an “exile” from God or our heavenly home. There are Catholic prayers that use these words. Human life is then seen as a testing ground. We are to earn our salvation by how we live in this “valley of tears.”
Might we also remember Jesus’ hope for us: “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete” (John 15:10)? Jesus speaks of his joy becoming ours in the present, and not just in the future. So, might it be a question of our accepting the presence, love, and joy of God that is already with us? Might it be a question of accepting what God has already given us rather than our trying to earn or merit it in a “valley of tears?”
More on the image of God in next week’s Inbox Inspirations.
Father Michael Schleupner
The above quotation is from The Transformed Heart by Tom Zanzig. Inspiration for some of the above is from the book just named and from Good Goats-Healing Our Image of God by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn.
Our Image of God -7
Dear Friends,
Today I am continuing my reflections on Our Image of God. As previously said, I see our image of God as grounded in an understanding of ourselves as human and imperfect, sometimes sinful, but at the same time esteemed and even loved by God. This understanding is vital for our faith and our personal well-being.
Traditionally, we have seen ourselves as coming into the world as fundamentally flawed and broken. Our emphasis on the sin of Adam and Eve and its effects upon all their descendants (all of humanity) means that we needed to be cleansed of Original Sin through baptism. We had to replace our old identity with the new identity of Jesus.
I wonder if we could also look at it this way. Isn’t our true, deepest, core identity that we are beloved daughters and sons of God? If that is true, then isn’t our mission in this world to become the full person whom God has created each of us to be? And are we not to do this through Jesus as our model or example and the grace that he gives us? In other words, are we not to become who God made us to be in and through Jesus Christ, the Son of God in whose image and likeness we were made?
In our tradition, we have seen others as being like us, that is, as fundamentally flawed. They, like me, left alone and by themselves, lack dignity and value. They will achieve this only through the salvific death of Jesus.
Might we see others as Jesus seemed to see them? Might we see them, like ourselves, as already and always loved by God who brought them into being? Might we see others, like ourselves, as worth dying for? Could it be that “Jesus’ death did not restore a value and dignity to us that had been lost but, rather, revealed what was from the beginning and remains true – all creation is precious and worthy of love, including humanity”? This perspective seems to resonate much more with my experience of life and of others, especially the two-thirds of the world’s population who have not been baptized. We still want them to know Jesus and the fullness that he is and brings, but in the meantime, they have their inherent dignity and value as God’s beloved.
I will conclude this series in next week’s Inbox Inspirations.
Father Michael Schleupner
The above quotation is from The Transformed Heart by Tom Zanzig. Inspiration for some of the above is from the book just named and from Good Goats-Healing Our Image of God by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn.
Our Image of God -8
Dear Friends,
Today I am concluding my reflections on Our Image of God.
Based on my reading of Scripture and of some of our Catholic authors, I propose that we see God as:
· Transcendent, beyond us as individuals and beyond our world, and yet close to us at the same time
· Creating all human beings in the divine image and likeness
· Present within us and forming the core of our identity
· Loving us without condition and never giving up on us
· Extending love to all persons, believer and non-believer, baptized and unbaptized
· Revealing himself fully to us in Jesus Christ
· Making known to us through Jesus our dignity and value as persons
· Showing us through Jesus the way to grow in God’s likeness.
With the above, I propose that we see ourselves as:
· Human, imperfect, and sometimes sinful, but always loved by God
· Beloved sons and daughters of God
· Walking the journey of life with Jesus Christ as our companion
· Graced with the opportunity of knowing ourselves, who we are and who we are to become, through Jesus Christ
· Blessed with the possibility of living life in a community of faith
· Joyful and not burdened with life as merely a valley of tears
· Peaceful because of our trust in God’s presence and care
· Inclusive of all others as sisters and brothers through Jesus Christ.
This, in summary, is my image of God and how I see us as able to experience ourselves in relation to God. This, for me, is much of the foundation of my faith.
Father Michael Schleupner
