person writ large and seen in that conception both the best and the worst of ourselves. own
life. If my God is harsh judge, I will live in unquenchable guilt. If my God is Holy Nothingness,
I Until I discover the God in which I believe, I will never understand another thing about my
own life. If my God is harsh judge, I will live in unquenchable guilt. If my God is Holy life
impaled on the Nothingness, I will live a life of cosmic loneliness. If my God is taunt and bully,
I will live my fullness overflowing forever.
life impaled on the pin of a grinning giant. If my God is life and hope, I will live my life in
fullness overflowing forever.
I have known all of those Gods in my own life. They have all failed me. I have feared God
and been judgmental of others. I have used God to get me through life and, as a result,
failed to take steps to change life myself. I have been blind to the God within me and so,
thinking of God as far away, have failed to make God present to others. I have come to the
conclusion, after a lifetime of looking for God, that such divinity is a graven image of
ourselves, that such a deity is not a god big enough to believe in. Indeed, it is the God in
whom we choose to believe that determines the rest of life for us. In our conception of the
nature of God lies the kernel of the spiritual life. Made in the image of God, we grow in the
image of God we make for ourselves.
The God-question leaves us standing at the summit of the mountain of faith facing the
mountain of life. To say, “I believe in God” determines the rest of our entire lives. “I believe”
—“in God” may be the two most developmental statements in the human lexicon. To say “I
believe in God” means that I commit myself to make God a presence in the center of my
heart, in the humdrum of my days, in the dregs of my struggles. Discovering the way God
works in each of those is the spiritual journey of a lifetime. It is the ultimate spiritual task.
- from In Search of Belief
by Joan Chittister
life. If my God is harsh judge, I will live in unquenchable guilt. If my God is Holy Nothingness,
I Until I discover the God in which I believe, I will never understand another thing about my
own life. If my God is harsh judge, I will live in unquenchable guilt. If my God is Holy life
impaled on the Nothingness, I will live a life of cosmic loneliness. If my God is taunt and bully,
I will live my fullness overflowing forever.
life impaled on the pin of a grinning giant. If my God is life and hope, I will live my life in
fullness overflowing forever.
I have known all of those Gods in my own life. They have all failed me. I have feared God
and been judgmental of others. I have used God to get me through life and, as a result,
failed to take steps to change life myself. I have been blind to the God within me and so,
thinking of God as far away, have failed to make God present to others. I have come to the
conclusion, after a lifetime of looking for God, that such divinity is a graven image of
ourselves, that such a deity is not a god big enough to believe in. Indeed, it is the God in
whom we choose to believe that determines the rest of life for us. In our conception of the
nature of God lies the kernel of the spiritual life. Made in the image of God, we grow in the
image of God we make for ourselves.
The God-question leaves us standing at the summit of the mountain of faith facing the
mountain of life. To say, “I believe in God” determines the rest of our entire lives. “I believe”
—“in God” may be the two most developmental statements in the human lexicon. To say “I
believe in God” means that I commit myself to make God a presence in the center of my
heart, in the humdrum of my days, in the dregs of my struggles. Discovering the way God
works in each of those is the spiritual journey of a lifetime. It is the ultimate spiritual task.
- from In Search of Belief
by Joan Chittister
WHO IS YOUR GOD?
Order this book now.
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