Re-Naming God
Hagar gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me.” - Genesis 16:13
I love hearing God-talk from other people. Other people’s perspectives always invite me into a deeper, more open embrace of the Divine. Last week I had what I’m calling a “magical conversation” with others about God. During our weekly Zoom gathering as an online congregation (Harbor Online Community), about ten of us split off into a breakout room where I asked the group about their images of God. The responses astounded me.
To begin, some of the older members in the group grounded us in wisdom, “God is presence”, “God is the energy between us,” “I’ve learned from studying under a Rabbi: God is not a noun, but a verb.” The initial wisdom of these community members uprooted us from our binary images of God and pushed us to see and feel God as Mystery. These initial insights catapulted our diverse group into a holy conversation about God. One member shared their view of God as protecting them. When they said it, the room was silent and we found ourselves emotional listening to this pure picture of God. Another member shared her desperation to flee from the patriarchal God-talk and towards something new. She said “I don’t know if it’s okay, but when I pray I pray to my abuelita too.” The group encouraged her to draw from her ancestors. One member responded, “There is something very profound about praying with our ancestors and elders. Re-membering them. This is where we can learn from our indigenous brothers, sisters, and siblings.” From God-talk about Queer Jesus, to God as Love, to God in the land, to metaphors of God like the wide powerful Lake Michigan, this group created a holy conversation. It is as if this feeling of goodness, mystery, wonder, and the energy between us--that connected us as one across our Zoom screens--is the very essence of God.
Sometimes (most times), God transcends our language. We experience God in the land, the energy between us, the hope, the mystery, the wonder.
As we shift from binary thinking of God, would we continue to move towards this Mystery. Today, tune into your breath, feel your feet on the earth, see the goodness flowing, feel the energy, tune into the hope, the mystery, and wonder of God. What might it mean to feel this Mystery deeper? Is it going for a walk and noticing the natural elements, or maybe it’s asking people what God means to them? In whatever direction you take this, continue to be open and curious to experiencing God's mystery in new ways.
--
Dottie Oleson, M.Div.