• BELIEF IN GOD

     

    Meditation Guide

    God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit

    Do you know the Hindu story about the Five Blind Men and the Elephant?

    There were five blind men, blind since birth. They had never seen an elephant.

    Each of them was taken to an elephant and allowed to feel with his hands one part of the elephant: an ear, the tail, a tusk, the trunk, and a foot.

    Then each was asked to describe the elephant. Each man described what he had felt with his hands, and of course each one described something different: the foot for example was totally different to the trunk.

    But none of them was wrong. Each man was correct in what he described. It was just that they each had a different experience of the elephant, and so could only describe the part he had experienced.

    This is how we are when we try to describe God. Each of us has a different experience of God, and it is a true one, but we only have a limited image of the whole. We cannot say what God is like, because we know only a part.

    Bible Text

    There are a few passages in the Bible that give us glimmers of what God is:

    ‘In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while the Spirit of God swept over the face of the waters.’  Genesis 1:1-2

    ‘So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them.’ Genesis 1:27

    ‘God said to Moses,  “I AM WHO I AM”. ‘  Exodus 3:14

    ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. You kingdom come. Your will be done.’  Matthew 6:9-10

    ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Matthew 16:15

    Questions

    The central questions about belief in God are very personal. Only you can answer them for yourself, and each person’s answers will be different.

    • What does ‘God’ mean to you?
    • Do you have a visual image of God, or a feeling, or an idea that might be difficult to put into words?
    • When you pray to God, who is it you are praying to?
    • What do you truly believe in? Not what your friends, Church members or family believe in, but you personally, in your heart.
    • Do you have an image of God that differs from other people’s?

    Meditation Exercise

    None of us knows God in his entirety – or ever can while we live. To think otherwise is pride. It is like a donkey trying to do classical ballet. It  is simply not possible, however hard the donkey tries.

    But we can all search for God, by

    • trusting God
    • reading the Scriptures
    • thinking about what we read
    • trying to live a good life, day by day.

    The rest is in God’s hands.

    Think about the four items listed above. How much of each are you doing?

    Is there one area you fall down on? Could you concentrate a bit more on that?

    Could you add to the list of Bible texts, with some quotes that you find valuable?