god stories

We all have an image of God, whether we are conscious of it or not. Usually that image comes from our parents, teachers, and from experiences that we had as a child. When we are young we form our image of the world, of whether it is a positive or negative place, and along with it we form our understanding of God, of whether God is a kind and loving God or a fearful punishing God.

As we grow, our understanding of God must also grow. As adults we are challenged to move beyond the understanding of God that we had as a child and to a fuller, more mature understanding. God is beyond all human words and concepts, so no human being can fully understand the mystery of God, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to grow in our understanding. As in any relationship, our relationship with God is an ongoing, dynamic relationship, which grows and changes throughout our lives. Just as we continually learn more about our friend as the friendship develops, we continue to learn more about God as our relationship with God develops.

Let’s look at our images of God.

Who first taught you about God?
Was it your parents, teachers?
What kinds of words did they use to describe God?
What was your image of God?
Has it changed during your life?

Often we are content to hold on to our images of God because they are familiar. It is when a crisis arises and our images of God are no longer sufficient to address the crisis that our images change. For example, we may have thought of God as a big bodyguard in the sky who will protect us from harm, but when something happens to us, we are challenged to look again at that image of God. It is at these crisis points that we have the choice of clinging to an image of God that is “safe” but no longer meaningful for us, or doing the difficult work of allowing our image to grow. Growing in our image of God means questioning our previous image, and that could be frightening. Often as children we are told not to question, especially in matters of faith. We are afraid that God will punish us if we question some aspect of our previous image. No! God gave us minds so that we may continue to grow in our understanding.

Questioning is not a sign of spiritual sickness, but of spiritual health! It is good to question, because that is how our faith grows. God does not want us to remain spiritual children, blindly accepting everything we are told by religious leaders, but to grow into mature spirituality by continually searching and evaluating ideas in the light of our own conscience and understanding.

This does not mean that God has changed, or that our previous image was “wrong”. It simply means that we have grown into a more mature understanding of God. A five year old will describe their mother differently than a thirty year old. It does not mean that the five year old is wrong. It is right for a five year old. But you wouldn’t expect the thirty year old to have the same understanding. While the thirty year old might use some of the same words, their understanding will be quite different.
If we want to develop a more mature understanding of God, there is a wealth of images that we can draw from.

As Christians we look to the bible as a rich source of images of God. The writers of the bible described God in many different ways. In the bible God is described as a lover seeking the beloved, as a forgiving father, a mother nursing her children, a potter molding clay, light, love, a king, a shepherd, a warrior, a river, a still small voice, and many other metaphors. Each describes something about God- that God is nurturing like a mother, powerful like a king, protective like a shepherd, cleansing like a river, creative like a potter- but all of them are only metaphors. Ultimately, God is a mystery beyond human understanding, so any words to describe God will not encompass the total reality of God. We have to hold our images of God lightly, remembering that they only describe an aspect of what God is like and are not to be taken literally.

Those of us who have grown up as Christians often get stuck on one image of God, the image of father, and take that image too literally, excluding all the other images available. God is beyond gender, but since human language is limited, we have historically assigned God the masculine pronoun. We could just as easily assign God the feminine pronoun, since God is described in both ways in the bible.

Catholics use the idea of the trinity to describe God. By that we mean that God is a unity, one God, but within that unity of God there is a three-“person” relationship. We don’t mean that God is literally three “people”, but that God is a relationship. God the creator, or “father”, is one part of the trinity, God the redeemer, the “son”, Jesus, is the second part of the trinity, and God the holy spirit, which is God’s action in the world, is the third part. Catholics believe that God is more than just a static entity. God’s very essence is relational. What the image of the trinity reminds us of is that God is infinitely more complex and mysterious than we can imagine.

What are your images of God at this point in your life?
What are three words you use to describe God?

Check out these images of God from the bible.
Are they different from your current image of God?
Do any of them resonate with you?

“As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you.” Isaiah 66:13

“The Lord is my light and my salvation.” Psalm 27:1

“The Lord is my shepherd.” Psalm 23

“God is light. In God there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

“God is love.” 1 John 4:16

“Like clay in the potters hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.” Jeremiah 18:6

“I am the vine, you are the branches.” John 15:5

Negative Images of God
Many of us bring with us from childhood negative images of God. We may have been taught that God was like a policeman who would catch us and punish us for the least offense. For people who have been hurt by their fathers, the word “father” might bring up negative associations.
In the past, many Catholics were taught a negative view of God as children. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, the impression that many Catholics had of God was as a stern, angry father figure who was keen to punish them for the least offense. This is NOT the God of Jesus. Picturing God as someone who delights in punishing sinners with fury is an erroneous image. Rather, catholics believe that when we do wrong, God calls us back into relationship with love, and is always ready to heal us and forgive us.

Jesus called God “Abba”, the word that a child would use for their father. The English translation would be “Daddy” or “Papa”. Over and over, throughout the Gospels, Jesus stresses that God is a God of love, forgiveness and healing, who loves us and wants our love, not our fear.
At the Second Vatican Council, in 1963, the Catholic Church began to re-think its understanding of God. Its emphasis shifted from the image of God as a stern judge, back to the loving, compassionate “Papa” of Jesus. In recent years, female theologians and theologians from other cultures have added their perspectives on God, enriching the whole church’s understanding.

Catholics believe that the bible describes an ongoing revelation of God. Many of the early images evoke fear without a balancing revelation of love. Catholic teachings believe that these are primitive images which continued to develop as the Jewish people grew in their understanding of God. When Jesus came along he revealed most fully who God is, and the church continues to grow in it’s understanding of God to this day.

Questions to think about:

1. How strict is your God? How comfortable are you with God? Are there negative images of God from childhood getting in the way of your relationship with God today?

2. Is God real for you as someone who wants a friendship with you just as you might desire friendship with another person?

3. What more would you like to know about God? What would you do, where would you go, who would you ask to learn more?

Terms used and definitions
Bible: A collection of inspired writings written by many different people over a span of many years, which describe the story of the Jewish people’s relationship with God (the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament) and the fulfillment of God’s love for humanity in Jesus (the New Testament).

catholic church: catholic means “universal”. The God of Jesus is the God of everyone.

God image: The understanding that we have of God. The images our minds use to picture God.

Trinity: The understanding of God which sees God’s essence as one unity, but in that unity is a relationship. God is a relational being. This understanding developed in the first 300 years after Christ, as the church struggled to understand the meaning of Jesus and his relationship to God. This understanding was articulated in the Nicene Creed, which catholics still recite at mass today.

Second Vatican Council: A meeting of the Bishops and leaders of the catholic church, held from 1963-65, which reformed many church practices and brought fresh air into the church.