Thought for the week: Kate McNally’s tough love
‘I do not believe that God cares where I worship God, or even if I do.’
Voltaire famously said that ‘God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favour ever since.’ I was raised with images of Jesus as a blue-eyed European who looked a little like my brother, with God as an old white man on a cloud, judging us all. We create God in our own image, and give God the gender of kings.
These images, and the ways in which we interact with them, arose in a time and place where rulers needed to be sure of loyalty and fealty. God was imagined as what was needed at that time – an ultimate ruler who would free the people from whoever was oppressing them. Thus the Psalms speak of God protecting us from our enemies, smiting them and leading us to safe places.
We know these physical images of Jesus and God are not really the right ones, and many of us have no problem with re-imagining God in other images. We begin to see Jesus as he might actually have looked. But how do we feel when we are asked to interact with God differently, in ways that are reflections of a new imagining of God? Not as a powerful ruler who will protect us but as a loving, guiding presence?
Take, for example, the expectation that we will worship God – acknowledge the worth of God, show admiration for God, and adore God. Does God really want this? Did Jesus in the manger need to be told how great he was? He would surely have preferred a room at the inn, clean swaddling clothes, and a bodyguard to protect him from Herod.
I do not believe that God cares where I worship God, or even if I do. I don’t think I will find God in Meeting houses or churches or holy sites, unless I bring God with me. God doesn’t live in sacred places, God lives in sacred actions, in how we treat each other and how we show the love of God in our lives.
The amazing fact of Quaker worship is that we sit in silence not to tell God how great God is. No, in silence together we wait. Sometimes, only sometimes, we feel a connection to God and to the ones around us; and if we’re very lucky, to ourselves. Our true selves. When that happens, we have our orders: ‘Pick up your cross and follow me’. The message is clear: not ‘Worship me’, but ‘Follow me’. Feed the hungry, tend the sick, welcome the stranger, let your life speak. Take the love you’ve been given unconditionally and pass it on. Give it to others who need it, who need to feel that miraculous connection that was given to you.
I believe that bringing the kingdom of God to earth is about bringing the love of God to the earth. One person, one action at a time.
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