We continue to talk about words people use to describe God.\u00a0 Today I turn to some “negative” words<\/p>\n
Trickster\/Joker – I was a little surprised to see trickster\/joker on the list.\u00a0 I don’t know if I have ever heard God described in this way.\u00a0 I take it to imply somebody seeing God as a deceiver\u00a0who uses illusion to deceive us\u00a0and make fun of us.\u00a0 Have you ever heard God described in this way?<\/p>\n
Santa Claus – This too caused me to wonder why it was on the negative list.\u00a0 Normally, we think of Santa Claus as a generous giver.\u00a0 I would imagine it is on the negative list because of a distorted image of God as making a list, checking it twice, finding out whose naughty and nice, implying God is all about judging us as a scorekeeper<\/em>.\u00a0 If we are good we get grace, if not we get coal.\u00a0 God is indeed our judge as the one who determines what is right and wrong (cf. stern judge<\/a>).\u00a0 But God does not judge in harshness.\u00a0 God is not the angry <\/em>one or a harsh <\/em>ruler.\u00a0 God is merciful and offers us forgiveness.\u00a0<\/p>\n Domineering One – Does God hold all the power?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Is God all knowing?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Does God have the right to demand<\/em> that we follow him?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 But God does not demand <\/em>our obedience.\u00a0 God gives us free will and allows us to make our own choices.\u00a0 Are there consequences when we do not follow God’s ways?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 It is the same with a parent and child.\u00a0 If a child does something wrong, there are consequences.\u00a0 With a good parent (and God is the ultimate good parent), the consequences are not about what suits the parent’s need but what is good for the child.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hard-to-Please – Does God ask a lot of us?\u00a0 According to the Bible and the Tradition of the Catholic Church there is much expected of us.\u00a0 Can we do it all on our own? No, if we could Jesus would not have had to die for our sins.\u00a0 What is expected of us?\u00a0 Jesus sums it up in two commandments in Matthew 22:34-40<\/a><\/p>\n When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,\u00a0and one of them [a scholar of the law]\u00a0tested him by asking,\u00a0“Teacher,\u00a0which commandment in the law is the greatest?”\u00a0\u00a0He said to him,\u00a0“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is the greatest and the first commandment.\u00a0\u00a0The second is like it:\u00a0You shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u00a0\u00a0The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What Jesus asks of us is to love.\u00a0 Yet that is no small task.\u00a0 It is not easy.\u00a0 So it might seem that God is hard-to-please but Jesus does not expect us to be perfect.\u00a0 He does expect us to do our best and he will take care of the rest.<\/p>\n Peace,<\/p>\n Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n