If I may paraphrase, Vanstone suggests three qualities that tell us how God loves. The first quality is that God sets no limits on God's self-giving. All of God is expended for us and and for all creation. Every bit of God (if it is proper to speak in that way) is given to every molecule of creation. Constantly. The second and third qualities he says, are that the activity of God's love is both precarious and vulnerable. Basically from this, he is saying that the outcome of God's love is uncertain. Will it be accepted or not? We can accept it or reject it. We are partners in this work of love.We are grown-ups.
What I find so helpful in his pondering - to which I have done very little justice - is that this God makes much more sense to me than the God who controls everything, who has a plan for everyone and who is un-touched by our response. Because if God really is love then because love feels, cares, God is in some sense affected by our response.
But what might all that mean for us? As I understand, it means that we are given the gift to choose; to make of our lives what we can. We are given the gift of the power of God's love to start again, to rebuild. We are given also the gift to endure that which is tragic and suffering and hurtful in our lives when we cannot change it. It seems that God will not make things right in the sense of zapping things better but will be with us, empowering us with the grace so that we ourselves can make things right or at least, try and try again until we can move forward.
If this is true then when we say things like 'how can God allow this to happen?' perhaps we can ponder what the whole process of creating something is like, as we can see it with artists, poets, composers. Perhaps the most important thing is that creation is a work in progress and so as with any creative process there will be moments when things go wrong and moments when they go right.
The implications of the above are that because God does not predetermine the path of creation nor the path that we as individuals take, things that are hard will happen. We will make mistakes. We will hurt one another. We will do evil things. The underlying reality though, is that God's love is there to enable us to move forward toward the continuing redemption of it all if we choose.
The story of Jesus' death which we remember especially this week is both about creation going wrong and also, at Easter, about creation going right, being redeemed. It is a story about how God never abandons us however we may feel. It is in fact, a story of awesome love.
I will blog again on Good Friday (Mar. 29) and Easter day (Mar. 31)
1 comment:
I think it is empowering to think of God in this way. It may be daunting to realize that God will let bad things happen, but at the same time it is good to think we can actually make a difference and that perhaps we can try to embody that same unlimited love for all beings. We too should aim to feel this love even when is not appreciated or is even rejected, even though it is precarious and vulnerable. It will change both our own selves as well as others for the better if we can do this and the ripple effects could be quite powerful.
Post a Comment