Given that we are created in God’s own image and likeness, it is not an exaggeration to say that these human relationships are God-like. I want to reflect the ultimate basis for those relationships: our relationship with God and God’s relationship with us.
Each one of us is embraced with God’s love. This union is not dependent on whether we worship God or even know God exists. Every person’s life, from the moment of conception, is itself a sharing in God’s existence. Even though a newborn infant can’t be conscious of a mother’s presence, we know the mother is present to her infant very consciously.
We were made to be in a conscious and personal relationship with God. We who are blessed with knowing of God are called to a personal relationship with the Creator. Some relationships are based on fear—even terror. Our relationship with God is the opposite because it is based on love. The key word is personal. For example, an atheist who is interested in comparative religions can know more about the concept of God than 99 percent of ordinary believers, nevertheless, as a professed atheist, he won’t have a personal relationship with God given his intellectual stance. But his disbelief in no way removes God’s love and desire for him.
Our personal relationship with God is based on who we are as people. What is startling is that while we cannot reach out and embrace God with our arms, we can do just that with our hearts. Our physical size is of no importance here because love is based in the human soul. Isn’t it true that a smile from an infant gazing at the face of her mother totally transforms the mother in ways she could not describe?
In our personal relationship with God, all we need to do is act as we do with one another. The elements of that are the essence of our relationship with God. Many confuse a relationship with feeling a kind of closeness. Often it is not felt or sensed in that way. A relationship may include emotions, but they are definitely not the essence of it. Rather, it is with our hearts that we embrace the Lord. And in that relationship, we speak with God as we would with anyone else.
There is no special language or grammar. We speak as we always do. We remind ourselves that God is not “somewhere up there,” but within us so that we don’t have to find God. We must look within. God is the one who shares everything in our lives with us—good and bad. We hold nothing back. God can handle it all with no trouble. In fact, God embraces us no matter where we are in life.
What’s a simple way of coming to the Lord, you might ask? Simply say in your heart, Here I am, Lord. We need to talk.
2 thoughts on “Our Relationship with God”
Thank you for your words.
What a nice video and talk by that Franciscan. It was impressive.