Hey, Southern Cali!
I just met with my student minister and we were talking about my favorite quote, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) I’m so fascinated by the way moderns have domesticated God, taking the grey-haired old man thing quite seriously (by that I mean that when people reject God-concepts, it’s usually the grey-haired old man — either the doddering and impotent or raging and vengeful version — that they reject). I rarely hear any one talk about God as pure spirit, undomesticated, glorious, in-breaking and dreadfully inconvenient. I remember actually getting on my knees in prayer during my seminary years and sobbing, “Please stop burning in me so hard.” I felt like the proverbial work horse, “rid hard and put away wet,” all foamy on the flanks at the end of the day, definitely on the edge […]