Changing Images of God
A Reflection by Christine Jurisich
As I invite you to reflect on your inner door this month, I wonder whether you are noticing a quiet—or perhaps not so quiet—voice of caution within, whispering: What is on the other side of the door? Sometimes what keeps us from opening that door is the need for a new or expanded image of the Divine.
I remember the very first time I prayed. I was in fifth grade; my cousin had just died in a plane accident, and my mom invited me to pray for comfort. That began my transactional relationship. When I needed comfort, I prayed. When life was good, and I didn’t need anything, I didn’t pray. As I grew older, I was introduced to the Divine as part of my everyday world — the ups and downs, the laughter and tears. As life became more complicated, this helped me navigate it all in a much more relevant and supportive way.
All this month we are exploring the invitation to open our inner door to God’s love. Sometimes, our resistance to opening that door comes from an image of God that no longer makes sense to us. God does not change. It is our image of God that does as we grow and experience life. How are you being called to an expanded experience or image of God?
For many, the question Who or What is God? becomes confusing when tragedy or unexpected events such as divorce, the loss of a loved one, or corruption in a faith community occur. These circumstances can trigger questions about God's role in your life. I thought God was my protector, but last week I was in a horrible car crash. I thought God answered prayers, but I asked for my friend to be cured from cancer and she died. In this month’s self-paced online retreat, “The Journey Within” (it is not too late to join), we reflect with this thought-provoking quote in the book, "Naming Your God: The Search for Mature Images." Author Pat McCloskey, O.F.M., talks about the choices you have when your image of God does not fit your new circumstances.
. . . if I have a single image of God, and this image is decisively contradicted by my new and painful experience of life (God will always protect me, but last week I was beaten and robbed for the first time), I have the same options, in a sense, as if I outgrow a pair of shoes:
1) I can continue to wear the same shoes and complain that they do not fit (Why is this good God punishing me?);
2) I can quit wearing shoes altogether (become an atheist or an agnostic);
3) I can find shoes that fit.
The final option forces me to seek out additional images of God that do justice to all of life as I have experienced it. If I am a Christian and I choose that option, I will probably have to re-examine the scriptures and the lives of Christians to see if I have missed some key information. In fact, the third option is a commitment to continual growth in my images of God - with immediate consequences for my self-image and my image of others. [1]
This can be a fragile subject to ponder, for sure. Give yourself tender time and space to explore at your own pace and reflect: How may this quote be an invitation to open yourself to new experiences of God?
[1] Pat McCloskey, O.F.M., Naming Your God (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1991), 16.
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