04-10-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS 
April 10, 2025
I was on a Zoom call Tuesday night with faith leaders talking about how best to protect the most vulnerable. A Buddhist named Teo Drake said something in passing that caught my attention. I may not have written down the quote exactly, but basically this is what he said: “There is no version of the divine that does not love you. There are lies about God that might, but no version of the holy that does anything other than love you for who you are.” That is something I have tried to say in the past, though he said it much better than I have. Throughout human history, the gods usually had the same attributes as humans, only better, bigger, and with more pizzazz. Yet it was not until Judaism that an understanding of the divine began to emerge that portrayed God as being more loving than anything we could imagine as human beings. There was still plenty of the other attributes that were seen as bigger, better, and more impressive, yet they began to take a backseat to things like love, mercy, and kindness. In a world where power was everything, and thus your god had to be the best and strongest warrior figure imaginable, to speak of Jesus as being equal with God, but choosing to empty himself and take on the form of a servant would have been earth-shattering (Philippians 2). This was not bigger, better, and more impressive, and as you can imagine, it created confusion and conflict as Christianity began to emerge and to make its claims. The “lies” Teo referenced in his talk are often rooted in people reaching for those older and more anthropomorphic attributes associated with god(s), specifically those that are associated with a traditional understanding of strength and power. I believe it is important to let go of a perception of the divine that is basically a bigger, better, and more impressive version than you and I. If, in your opinion, God appears to be incapable of loving someone, especially someone you are having a hard time loving, then maybe you’ve created an oversized version of yourself and called it god. But when you see God loving people, even those you are struggling to love, then I believe you might have glimpsed the God who is holy other and mysterious, the God who is eternal and an expression of perfect love.

I do not pretend to know you, O Holy One of the Universe, but I seek to celebrate and reflect your will in this world, a will that is often very different than what most humans are seeking to will into existence. Amen.