Doing focus and the boxing in of God
Doings can be listed, categorized, prioritized, concretized, analyzed, proceduralized, externalized, internalized, emphasized, etc... in other words they can be constrained and contained.
If we see God as, and only as, or even primarily as, this great DOER, then we can be seduced into a systematic understanding of and relationship to Him. And therefore God becomes only that which we understand. He is a God in and of our cranial capacity as Jim Fowler is fond of positing.
Being is not a thing that can be categorized and concretely described. Being is something that manifests itself by doing, but is not constrained, contained, and defined by actions. Beings act, but actions are not the comprising and fullness of a being.
An example, the computer. Knowing the sounds it makes and the images that flash upon its screen, the heat it generates, and the subtle vibrations it causes are all actions. But they tell one very little about the insides, the reality, and even the fullness of the capabilities of the computer itself.
It is the same with God. When we approach and think and interact with Him and His children from the foundation of His actions only without going deeply into the Person, the source that manifests those actions, we may be in danger of being seduced into following an idol. Oh this idol is not one that sits still for it smokes and spews fire and makes many noises, but it is a still a nothing. It is a product of our minds, not the reality of the Person.
Yes God acts. Yes He is an actuator, for He is THE Actuator. But we have been ushered into a relationship with THE Actuator, not just and not only spectator and speculator of and on His actions. May we realize that God is God, and let Him be so in the lives we now live, and in His doings we now see.
If we see God as, and only as, or even primarily as, this great DOER, then we can be seduced into a systematic understanding of and relationship to Him. And therefore God becomes only that which we understand. He is a God in and of our cranial capacity as Jim Fowler is fond of positing.
Being is not a thing that can be categorized and concretely described. Being is something that manifests itself by doing, but is not constrained, contained, and defined by actions. Beings act, but actions are not the comprising and fullness of a being.
An example, the computer. Knowing the sounds it makes and the images that flash upon its screen, the heat it generates, and the subtle vibrations it causes are all actions. But they tell one very little about the insides, the reality, and even the fullness of the capabilities of the computer itself.
It is the same with God. When we approach and think and interact with Him and His children from the foundation of His actions only without going deeply into the Person, the source that manifests those actions, we may be in danger of being seduced into following an idol. Oh this idol is not one that sits still for it smokes and spews fire and makes many noises, but it is a still a nothing. It is a product of our minds, not the reality of the Person.
Yes God acts. Yes He is an actuator, for He is THE Actuator. But we have been ushered into a relationship with THE Actuator, not just and not only spectator and speculator of and on His actions. May we realize that God is God, and let Him be so in the lives we now live, and in His doings we now see.
posted by GBT at
Thursday, June 30, 2005
