Thank you Nancy for this quote. I agree, completely.
It got me thinking. So tried to follow its thought in a couple of new directions:
“It is our greatest desire to see our own ideas of perfection manifest, but we must be open to the idea that God may not entertain ideas of perfection.”
and further along this path, “It is our desire to see our intentions and our plans play out, but we must be open to the idea that God’s desires may not include our plans or any plans at all.”
I guess it is a matter of openness to the idea that God’s desires may not be a perfection of human desires.
Blessings, Mark
Thanks so much for your comments, Mark! I love the idea that God’s desires may not include any plans at all. My thoughts and questions often go down this road as well. And yet I’m not ready to believe in a “Monte Carlo God” (to quote a friend of mine), i.e. a random universe where everything happens by chance. I don’t think that’s what you’re saying either.
I created this little graphic using a quote from a previous blog post I wrote five years ago when the federal government was in an extended “shut down” because the dominant party wouldn’t approve a budget unless the president from the other party conceded to their demands. In that piece I also include a quote from my dear friend Craig, who died suddenly and unexpectedly a few weeks after the original post. Talk about getting the message across that “God’s plan” (if you can call it that) didn’t take my desires into account! Anyway, here’s a link to that post: https://nancyschoellkopf.com/2013/10/20/a-prayer-for-these-times/
Thanks for the link and the post.
I have a feeling that God is somewhere between (or around) a Monte Carlo God and an Architect of the Universe God, maybe an Improv God who is comfortable with the self definition, “I will become who I will become.” (Exodus 3:14)
Concerning your post. Wonderful prayer. I was reminded of Matthew 5:43-48 which begins with “Love your enemies,” and ends with “You must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” (I think Jane Kenyon has a poem about this.) This is about perfect love. And perfect here, is not in the sense of ideal but in the sense of complete, completely inclusive, even to the point of including enemies, or in your terms, all neighbors. Good stuff.
Just found the Jane Kenyon poem. Stunning. I love the last line about the loon coming up well away from humankind. Seems both sad and comical too.
I like the idea of the Improv God. I haven’t really written about this, but I like to think of God as an energy, an energy with a consciousness, and because it includes us, it is influenced by us, but we can’t truly understand it while we’re in our human bodies. Yet I feel this energy guides us in a way. I feel we struggle to align ourselves with this energy, because we think it would make our lives easier if we could do that, but really there’s no telling how we would feel if we could become completely conscious of this energy at all times. I think the Divine Energy is so intelligent and so intuitive, that it can change and grow and respond instantly–so to me God doesn’t necessarily have a plan, but he/she/it has a desire to reveal itself to us, and that is its focus.
On the other hand, I feel we humans like to create stories about God, and there are some stories I like better than others. This one is the story I’m creating today. It will change and grow as I do.
Thanks for this conversation.
You’re welcome Nancy; and thank you. My next blog post may include some of these thoughts mixed with an observation from this morning’s walk. We’ll see. Yes, writing is a path of discovery.
Thank you Nancy for this quote. I agree, completely.
It got me thinking. So tried to follow its thought in a couple of new directions:
“It is our greatest desire to see our own ideas of perfection manifest, but we must be open to the idea that God may not entertain ideas of perfection.”
and further along this path, “It is our desire to see our intentions and our plans play out, but we must be open to the idea that God’s desires may not include our plans or any plans at all.”
I guess it is a matter of openness to the idea that God’s desires may not be a perfection of human desires.
Blessings, Mark
Thanks so much for your comments, Mark! I love the idea that God’s desires may not include any plans at all. My thoughts and questions often go down this road as well. And yet I’m not ready to believe in a “Monte Carlo God” (to quote a friend of mine), i.e. a random universe where everything happens by chance. I don’t think that’s what you’re saying either.
I created this little graphic using a quote from a previous blog post I wrote five years ago when the federal government was in an extended “shut down” because the dominant party wouldn’t approve a budget unless the president from the other party conceded to their demands. In that piece I also include a quote from my dear friend Craig, who died suddenly and unexpectedly a few weeks after the original post. Talk about getting the message across that “God’s plan” (if you can call it that) didn’t take my desires into account! Anyway, here’s a link to that post: https://nancyschoellkopf.com/2013/10/20/a-prayer-for-these-times/
Thanks for the link and the post.
I have a feeling that God is somewhere between (or around) a Monte Carlo God and an Architect of the Universe God, maybe an Improv God who is comfortable with the self definition, “I will become who I will become.” (Exodus 3:14)
Concerning your post. Wonderful prayer. I was reminded of Matthew 5:43-48 which begins with “Love your enemies,” and ends with “You must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” (I think Jane Kenyon has a poem about this.) This is about perfect love. And perfect here, is not in the sense of ideal but in the sense of complete, completely inclusive, even to the point of including enemies, or in your terms, all neighbors. Good stuff.
Thanks, Mark. That means a lot to me.
Just found the Jane Kenyon poem. Stunning. I love the last line about the loon coming up well away from humankind. Seems both sad and comical too.
I like the idea of the Improv God. I haven’t really written about this, but I like to think of God as an energy, an energy with a consciousness, and because it includes us, it is influenced by us, but we can’t truly understand it while we’re in our human bodies. Yet I feel this energy guides us in a way. I feel we struggle to align ourselves with this energy, because we think it would make our lives easier if we could do that, but really there’s no telling how we would feel if we could become completely conscious of this energy at all times. I think the Divine Energy is so intelligent and so intuitive, that it can change and grow and respond instantly–so to me God doesn’t necessarily have a plan, but he/she/it has a desire to reveal itself to us, and that is its focus.
On the other hand, I feel we humans like to create stories about God, and there are some stories I like better than others. This one is the story I’m creating today. It will change and grow as I do.
Thanks for this conversation.
You’re welcome Nancy; and thank you. My next blog post may include some of these thoughts mixed with an observation from this morning’s walk. We’ll see. Yes, writing is a path of discovery.
So true. I look forward to reading your post!