What I Don't Know

"If we feel that we already know something in its totality, then we fail to keep our eyes and ears open to that which may expand or even change that which we so zealously think we know."

~Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water

I was told many times at a certain point in my life that God was unable to operate outside of His principles. These principles, drawn largely from out-of-context Scriptures as interpreted by various doctrinal sources, were little more than a meager attempt at Christian morality. They did not describe God at all; they merely prescribed a pattern of behavior that would, if seen to the end, allow us to "grow" into the image of Christ, which, of course, was the ultimate goal.

And yet the behaviors which I was compelled to live did not account for the wild beauty of grace. There could be no truth, no abandonment, no miracles. Everything was impossible; faith demanded only lip-service.

But I was already stamped with the image of Christ! He Himself was enough to cover my nakedness before a living God of purity that burns like fire.

These principles that so supposedly bound HIm fell far outside of His actual cracter. They did not lend their followers a picture of God - they merely offered a means by which to appease a "vending-machine" deity. The "if I/then He" mentality left no room for curiosity, adventure, or passion for the deepest heart in the universe.

Because of fear, or duty, or control, those who insisted I accept these principles as true consistently refused relationship - with one another, with me, and with God. All in the name of "what is right."

There is more to this God than we know.

~Journal, March 30, 2007