The following comes from Walt’s book, Lighting Your Way, With Love

So, how big is your God?  

It might seem like a silly question. Indeed, God is vast, grander than the cosmos: eternal and all.  God doesn't fit in a box.  Anybody knows that, or at least anybody who believes in God.  

Try this follow up question: Is there anything God can't do or won't do?  If I could pursue this line of inquiry with you for long enough, I'm guessing we'd eventually bump into a boundary or limitation.  Each of us has, consciously or otherwise, drawn some sort of line in the sand that we can't imagine God crossing. God loves everyone but ___________  (fill in the blank).

Using the building materials of our understanding of scripture, tradition, our family of origin, or life itself, we have each constructed a box in which we house our image of God.  

From my experience in talking with a lot of people about their faith, our image of God is as big as the box that we've constructed to preserve, protect, and house our holy thoughts.  It is also my experience that whenever we attempt to squeeze God into a confined space, we run into problems.  

There is a temptation to go to war with others whose God boxes are different.  There is also a tendency to domesticate God into irrelevance—converting the divine into a trinket that looks nice on a shelf but doesn't make much of a difference in the way we live.  Either way, Jesus was never meant to be in a coffin. Neither was the Creator of the heavens, earth, and the cosmos. 

A critical step on the road to a healthy spiritual life involves acknowledging that we can't escape our predisposition to box in God.  Further, all boxing attempts border on blasphemy. Whenever we construct walls around God, no matter how pious or authorized our intentions, we are trying to create God in our image.  It moves in the direction of playing God, and it is a sure recipe for disaster.  

Our boxes—whether they are gold or cardboard—can never take the place of God.  Idols will always fall short, no matter how well we have constructed them.  In the face of our biggest challenges, we may discover a disconcerting truth: boxed gods are silent and powerless.  Stop.  Repent.  Turn away from the box.

Here is where our spiritual imagination can play a helpful role.  Imagine the God that freely lives beyond conventions, restrictions, traditions, limitations, or boundaries.  Dream.  Envision.  What if we were to tear down one of the walls of our boxes?  What new perspectives would we gain about God?

Turning our imaginations loose might seem way too chaotic for most folks.  This may especially be the case for those who are in a time of transition in life.  Why would we want to encourage more unease and mess?  Wouldn't it be better to turn to our more familiar images of God, like the ones we grew up with on the walls of our childhood Sunday school classrooms? Shouldn't we return to the tried and true treasures of the past?

When we are in need of the living God, nostalgia offers but a small comfort.  Sentimentality is no better.  Past images might be quaint, but they can be a source of further confinement.

Gaining a historical perspective can help us in our imaginative quest for God, but it cannot be the goal or purpose of that search. Merely going back to our god of yesteryear will leave us ill-equipped for the challenges facing us in an ever-changing present.  Instead of dusting off old containers, a better choice is to find the courage to open our boxes.

When we seek God beyond fixed images and small boxes, we allow our spirit to open at its widest point.  In that place where we find ourselves unable to speak, or even think, we can only trust.  Faith alone navigates these waters with a childlike acceptance.  I may not get remotely close to the expansive, hidden essence of the Divine Presence.  But that is okay.  I don't need to unravel all mysteries.  God is with me and knows my being to the very core.  God's spirit is as close as my next breath.  Nothing can separate or box me out.  There are no limitations to God's love.  No boxes. 

A PRAYER FOR YOU:

Gracious God, create in me an active imagination that remains open to your presence, which remains beyond my attempts to control and contain. Through Jesus Christ, amen.

Today’s reading comes from Walt’s first book, Lighting Your Way, With Love. He wrote it on the occasion of his son leaving for college. It is a devotional book about transitions, faith, and living as a child of God.

$15.99

Quantity: