I frequently realize I live in different times than when I grew up. Since I spend most of my time with college-age students, I spend little time reminiscing about the “good old days.” I am absolutely certain college students don’t care and they don’t want to hear about “what it was like when I was their age.” And I don’t blame them. When I was their age, I surely did not want to hear a bunch of old guys (or gals) talking about their younger years.
Yesterday was a reminder to me that I live in a different era. I was invited to do a keynote speech. That is not unusual. I have been invited to speak for years now---even decades. Sometimes it is an invitation from a friend or, as often happens, from a Quaker group who knows me or knows about me. These kinds of invitations are never surprising. In many of these cases, the person or group who invites me has a very good idea of what they will get when they invite me. And sometimes I am invited by students on my campus. And of course, they are pretty confident they know what I will say or they actually tell me what they want me to address.
Yesterday was different. I was contacted by a person I did not know. Interestingly, she was a Catholic nun. I can tell you I don’t have too many nuns after me to speak to their group. So this was both a surprise and a treat. As I read the invitation and began to grasp what I was being asked to do, I was eager to read on. Fairly quickly, the nun referenced two people who know me and apparently vouched that I was ok. I do consider both of these people friends, but I have no clue how the nun knows either one of them. So that intrigue remains without any answer. And the good news is, I don’t have to have an answer.
The clincher in the invitation, however, came when I read to the last paragraph. The nun said she had checked me out on YouTube! I am aware that some of the things I have done have been posted on YouTube. I have never bothered to put anything there on my own. But some of the various speaking engagements I have done do appear on that social medium. And in most case I had no say in whether it was posted online. So this is a new era. A nun checked me out and I was ok. It seems that I am a good risk to speak to her group.
As I thought about this, I realized in some way the nun had told me, “I have seen you.” This is true, even though we have never met. She has seen me. But I have not seen her. Of course, I will meet her someday. She will know me; right now I have no clue what she looks like or almost anything else about her. But my main point is, she has seen me.
This fact prompted me to think about an analogy. It prompted me to think about God. And to think about God is to begin to think theologically. As I often tell students, theology is the way humans think about and describe God. Theology is a human endeavor to talk about the mystery, which I consider God to be. To say God is a mystery is not to say anything specific about God except to say I can know almost nothing for certain. To say that God is mystery is to affirm that God exists, but it also affirms I can’t define or thoroughly describe this mystery. And I am actually quite happy about this. God is bigger than any definition.
Even though God is a mystery to me, I do believe I can “know” some things from God and about God. I am ok with the metaphors of Father and Mother. I think God is both and, of course, neither. I am also happy to use non-personal metaphors to talk about God. One of my favorite non-personal metaphors for God is to describe God as energy. I am comfortable talking about God as the energy that creates and sustains our world. God is ever-present to me as the energy flowing through my house.
I am also happy to talk about the kinds of ways that God relates to me and to all people. It makes sense to me to talk about God as energy enlivening me. When I think about God as Mother, it makes sense to feel loved and nurtured. That’s what mothers do. And when I think about God as Mother, Father or Friend, I can understand that God might even say, “I have seen you.” In a deep way I do think God has seen me. And I think God has seen you and every other creature on this planet. We have been seen and will continue to be seen. And none of this will be posted on YouTube.
God has seen me in the same way the nun has seen me. By seeing me, she has a sense of what I am like and can judge how I would do in a similar speaking context for her. God’s seeing me goes even deeper and has more profound implications. God does not want me simply for a speaking engagement. My future with God is not a half-hour keynote and then it’s over. God’s seeing me is not a request for a little time, but it will be an invitation for my life. God does not want a speech. God’s invitation to me is a request for my life.
God wants me to come into a relationship and to begin to emulate in my own way what God wants for all people. By having seen me, God concludes I can do it. I can become divine-like and become a creative, loving force in the world. To choose any other way of force is to opt for some kind of destructive, chaotic presence. God wants nothing less from you.
God wants me and you to say yes as much as the nun wanted an affirmative response from me. One is simple and can be done with some words in a speech. God’s invitation is for a lifetime. It can only be done in actions that ultimately will transform this world into the kingdom we all dream can be true. Say yes.
Yesterday was a reminder to me that I live in a different era. I was invited to do a keynote speech. That is not unusual. I have been invited to speak for years now---even decades. Sometimes it is an invitation from a friend or, as often happens, from a Quaker group who knows me or knows about me. These kinds of invitations are never surprising. In many of these cases, the person or group who invites me has a very good idea of what they will get when they invite me. And sometimes I am invited by students on my campus. And of course, they are pretty confident they know what I will say or they actually tell me what they want me to address.
Yesterday was different. I was contacted by a person I did not know. Interestingly, she was a Catholic nun. I can tell you I don’t have too many nuns after me to speak to their group. So this was both a surprise and a treat. As I read the invitation and began to grasp what I was being asked to do, I was eager to read on. Fairly quickly, the nun referenced two people who know me and apparently vouched that I was ok. I do consider both of these people friends, but I have no clue how the nun knows either one of them. So that intrigue remains without any answer. And the good news is, I don’t have to have an answer.
The clincher in the invitation, however, came when I read to the last paragraph. The nun said she had checked me out on YouTube! I am aware that some of the things I have done have been posted on YouTube. I have never bothered to put anything there on my own. But some of the various speaking engagements I have done do appear on that social medium. And in most case I had no say in whether it was posted online. So this is a new era. A nun checked me out and I was ok. It seems that I am a good risk to speak to her group.
As I thought about this, I realized in some way the nun had told me, “I have seen you.” This is true, even though we have never met. She has seen me. But I have not seen her. Of course, I will meet her someday. She will know me; right now I have no clue what she looks like or almost anything else about her. But my main point is, she has seen me.
This fact prompted me to think about an analogy. It prompted me to think about God. And to think about God is to begin to think theologically. As I often tell students, theology is the way humans think about and describe God. Theology is a human endeavor to talk about the mystery, which I consider God to be. To say God is a mystery is not to say anything specific about God except to say I can know almost nothing for certain. To say that God is mystery is to affirm that God exists, but it also affirms I can’t define or thoroughly describe this mystery. And I am actually quite happy about this. God is bigger than any definition.
Even though God is a mystery to me, I do believe I can “know” some things from God and about God. I am ok with the metaphors of Father and Mother. I think God is both and, of course, neither. I am also happy to use non-personal metaphors to talk about God. One of my favorite non-personal metaphors for God is to describe God as energy. I am comfortable talking about God as the energy that creates and sustains our world. God is ever-present to me as the energy flowing through my house.
I am also happy to talk about the kinds of ways that God relates to me and to all people. It makes sense to me to talk about God as energy enlivening me. When I think about God as Mother, it makes sense to feel loved and nurtured. That’s what mothers do. And when I think about God as Mother, Father or Friend, I can understand that God might even say, “I have seen you.” In a deep way I do think God has seen me. And I think God has seen you and every other creature on this planet. We have been seen and will continue to be seen. And none of this will be posted on YouTube.
God has seen me in the same way the nun has seen me. By seeing me, she has a sense of what I am like and can judge how I would do in a similar speaking context for her. God’s seeing me goes even deeper and has more profound implications. God does not want me simply for a speaking engagement. My future with God is not a half-hour keynote and then it’s over. God’s seeing me is not a request for a little time, but it will be an invitation for my life. God does not want a speech. God’s invitation to me is a request for my life.
God wants me to come into a relationship and to begin to emulate in my own way what God wants for all people. By having seen me, God concludes I can do it. I can become divine-like and become a creative, loving force in the world. To choose any other way of force is to opt for some kind of destructive, chaotic presence. God wants nothing less from you.
God wants me and you to say yes as much as the nun wanted an affirmative response from me. One is simple and can be done with some words in a speech. God’s invitation is for a lifetime. It can only be done in actions that ultimately will transform this world into the kingdom we all dream can be true. Say yes.
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