Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Ponderings on children and God

As I was on my way home this evening I was considering an independent study in interfaith relations and the Christian church. I was also thinking of my children riding in the back seat.  The revelation that we are truly God's children came to me as I remembered my son earlier in the day sitting on my lap and wrapping his arms around me as his sister approached proclaiming loudly and in no uncertain terms that I was his momma and not anybody elses. He threw in a few shoves for good measure as I tried to calm them down.  My daughter walked away unphased and I explained to my son that this was not appropriate behavior and that I was her mommy too.

The correlation between my son (C) and some Christians I have met blew me away on the way home.  There are some Christians that wrap their minds around God and proclaim God to be theirs and theirs alone.  They believe that it is completely their right to proclaim who God is not only in relation to them but to others as well.  They do so loudly and sometimes violently as C did in trying to push his sister (A) away.  Then God who loves them just as much as the others has to gently remind them that their behavior is not all right and that they can not proclaim what is God's mind.

This is how I understand interfaith relations.  God is so big and so wondrous, that my puny mind can not wrap its self around the entirety of God.  I can not proclaim that my understanding of God is the only understanding out there.  I can not pretend to know God's mind nor can I deny that I see the divine in people who are not Christians.  There are things I can do however.  I can reach out to others in love.  I can recognize where God is working in them and in their faith, and I can learn something more about my faith through it.  I can be made new each day in the Lord when I simply ask questions and try not to limit what God can do.  The only limitations on God working in my life are those I set, and only God knows the master plan.

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