Images of God

Joy and I had the following discussion in the car.

“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” Even though we still like the thought in this prayer, it reminds us of the image of God we had at the time which was an older white man with a beard sitting on a throne. Let’s talk briefly about our more current images.

We like Acts 17 which says “In God, we live, and move, and have our being.” God is therefore not out there somewhere, but we are within the God reality. God is our Atmosphere. Borg says God is "What Is".

The 9 Ways of Jesus previously discussed on this blog speak well to us about God’s image. God is "Servant", " Forgiver", " Confronter of darkness", "Healer", "One who both goes after and teaches The Way", "One who invites Trust", "Powerful", and " Creator of Jesus Community".

Jesus called God his Papa. I like that image and it can lead to others like a Mother or Grandmother who comforts the child. I think the feminine metaphor for God feels like a good change. Jesus confronted Jesrusalem and then he said he desired to gather her children together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.

Jesus tried to give us a new sense of God by describing God’s nature to be like a little seed growing into a big tree, a little yeast permeating and making to rise the dough, light, and salt.

Are there current images of God that you are being invited to embrace?