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to ask about our image and
understanding of God. What is your image of God? How do
your perceive or imagine God to be? Is God near or far
away? Is God warm and loving, generous and kind, healing
and forgiving? Or is God all-knowing and all loving, but
distant, ever concerned about our sins and most often
disappointed with our failures?
Our image of
God will have a great deal to do with how we pray and
express ourselves to God. It will determine our basic
stance of trust or mistrust before God. Much of the
time, our image of God remains unconscious to us, but it
directly and consistently influences the rhythms and
moods of our faith and prayer. In this way, our image of
God will influence our idea of what the Kingdom of God
is, and how we perceive its presence in our lives.
Today’s first
reading is a prophesy of Isaiah. It comes at a time of
exile when the people are feeling abandoned and rejected
by God. Through his close and personal relationship with
God, Isaiah perceives the tenderness of God toward the
people. Through Isaiah, God speaks a tender, even
intimate word of restoration, comfort, and impending
abundance.
The imagery is
decidedly feminine. As an attentive and concerned
mother, God shows tenderness for the weariness and
despair of the people. God is the mother who comforts
her children as she nourishes them with her milk, and
cuddles them on her lap. This is a real and true image
of God. Isaiah speaks this image to a people weary with
discouragement and abandonment to awaken them to the
presence of God in their midst. It is an image of the
Kingdom of God in that the Kingdom of God is something
God is doing on our behalf, that we are invited to
receive and share in. We cannot bring about the Kingdom
of or by ourselves. We can
conclusion to this
Reflection |
