WHAT GOD DOES OR DOES NOT LOOK LIKE AT 84.11.

This might seem to be underwhelming or redundant when talking about who God is NOT. I have a few ideas, gleaned from decades of trying to discover who God is when what I should have been doing is to discover who I am, and, with that information, get a sense of the Sacred.

GOD IS NOT…

HUMAN INTELLIGENCE HAS NEITHER THE CAPACITY NOR THE CAPABILITY TO KNOW GOD AS GOD IS. It got so bad that Jesus, Son of God, had to become human to show us in person what that means. Jesus used stories and parables (called similes) to say what God is like, not who God is.

GOD IS NOT MALE, NOR FEMALE, BUT WE ARE BOTH SHAPED IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS. This means that I have reason for a reason, not as God is, but like I can be. This means that I have the opportunity to discover a love that is at the deepest level of my humanity. This means that there is a truth outside of myself, indeed out of all humanity’s rationality, which I must learn how to access to reach that next level of my evolution. God is not any one gender, but both human males and females are created to be with God. To do that, we must live at that next level of our evolution, one that is invisible, one the opposite of what we know and experience by our reason and free choice. God has given females that which is of God, to find meaning and purpose in life and fulfill themselves as much as they can be. God has given males that which of God is, to fulfill themselves as males. I am not you, and you are not me. Females are not males and males are not females, but together through love they become one flesh, for it is not good for males or females to be alone. Each one of us faces life and the Sacred in ways unique to us. We do that through our being as feminine as possible for our human nature; men do it through being as male as possible.

It is impossible to fulfill our evolutionary progression with human intelligence and free will alone. Rather, we have reason for a reason and the ability to choose what is good or evil (Genesis 2-3), not just as men or women, but as adopted sons and daughters of the Father. We act out our nature’s life pathway with God setting boundaries for us, as we struggle to keep within its parameters.

GOT IS WITHOUT SIN OR IMPERFECTION. God is perfect, being 100% of God’s capacity and capability. Humans are made by God and thus are good, but have been hobbled by living in an imperfect world, one whose default seems to mitigate against the goodness we should become. It is no accident that the Blessed Mother was presented with the opportunity to be the Mother of God, despite not knowing what that meant. As with so many other Old and New Testament personalities, they are archetypes of how we should or should not act.

GOD IS NOT ME. Perhaps this is the biggest negative of all. The Genesis Principle, where humans were created good but blew their chance at perfection (as much as a human can be perfect) by trying to be God, is at the core of why Christ had to become human (as a ransom for many). The Old Testament is a book of examples of what happens when God is not on your side. To me, this is the original sin, one still with us each and every day, and the reason I must, as a Lay Cistercian, convert my life to be on Christ’s side. Daily!

CHRIST IS NOT DEAD BUT LIVES THROUGH THE CHURCH AND ME. Satan would like all humans to think that Christ is dead because the Resurrection is for school children, not mature adults. Reletivism is the way of thinking that says each individual can think what they want, and it will be as they say. Christ says those who lose their life will find it, and those who want to be an adopted son or daughter must deny themselves, take up their daily cross, and follow Christ. In my Lectio Divina meditations, I think of what I want God to know or to ask for help. In contemplation, I sit in the stillness of my upper room of my inner self, next to Christ, and just wait.

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