Originally Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Mood: 
hungry
Now Playing: silence
Topic: the character of God
So, this is my first post. I decided to be a nonconformist and refused to create one of these. However, as time passed I began to see the good of having a blog in order to update people, dialog through thoughts, and share your general outlook on life. I don’t know if any good will come out of it yet but I hope so. Anyway, I am in a state of trying to understand God’s character. Whoever reads this, I’m sorry if I offend you with what I say, but that is the nature of this since I don’t know where you stand on issues; whether that be conservative christian or atheist. I don’t know if it is possible to understand or know the character of God. It seems that we can only do this when we place God in a box. I don’t want to do that. In fact I have seen too much to be able to even assume that I can predict what is going to happen. I don’t have as much control as I think I do. Which it seems to me is what we are trying to gain by stating the character of God. Instead of being shown God’s character, we decide what that character is based on our own impoverished experiences. So whenever something doesn’t line up with what we have decided the character of God is we say “No that isn’t God, that is something from man. God can’t do that” Then we use our own interpretation of scripture to back that up as if how we look at scripture is always ‘right’. However, only God can truly interpret scripture correctly. How about instead of basing what we think of God off what we can see, we let God blow us away. Then, as a community come together, discuss what happened, ask God for guidance and discernment, and in community learn what is just us and what is really God. That is how beliefs in God from the first century church were developed. Every time there was an issue of disagreement, there was a conference to resolve it. Why hasn’t there been a heresy named in the last several centuries? How about instead of listening and relying upon others for our beliefs about God, we start to learn about God in the context of our own communities. That is where God speaks to us. It is in the midst of our everyday lives that God meets us and where we should be open to where God is moving and what is happening. Thoughts on God should continue this way, not just stop at the academic level. This must occur, because we can’t know all of God and must continue to learn more. Let us press on in our kitchens, in our neighborhoods, discussions, and within the context of our own communities. As we don’t limit God and struggle through our experiences. That is where I believe we will learn more about God.