"Wrestling with God"

Yesterday I had a friend tell me he was "wrestling with God" I remember seeing a book at Borders and on the Relevant books site with that name that sounded interesting Tonight I was in Borders and that book title popped out at me again I didn't buy it but it looks like a good book ( and it's only 6.99 on the Relevant web site :)


WRESTLING WITH GOD
INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

This book is about the spiritual journey. Specifically, it has been guided by my own walk with God, which is strange and amazing and wonderful, and by my discussions and sharing with a few hundred other travelers along the paths. I’ve also been guided in my thinking by the writings and insights of the pilgrims who were here ahead of us -- the Christian mystics, the saints, and the great fathers and mothers of the faith. And I’m also led by my own skepticism and my own awareness of how big the world and God are, and how small religion is.

I don’t know where you are, whether you’re a Christian or not, whether you believe in or have rejected religion, whether you know God or don’t. But for me, I’m deeply distrustful of and unimpressed by organized Christian religion. Part of that is because I was raised in three different denominations and was punctuated by disappointments and frustrations. Part of why I feel that way is my having worked in religious settings for the past decade. And part of my distrust is because I have studied the way churches work and have worked through the centuries. The Church has done great good, encouraged moral behavior and charity, and has done its best to point people to what it has understood about God. And yet, the Church is often -- maybe even usually -- corrupt, self-serving, and mostly concerned about defending its own boundaries and safety. It has hurt people in countless ways, either through its own sickness and dysfunction, or simply by setting the standard way too low for what people could become if God were given some room. In some ways, it’s not Christianity’s fault; it’s made up of people, like anything else, and people are broken and dysfunctional, and to be a healthy person, you understand, and have compassion, and move on. But some days you think, You guys say you’re the ones who know the ultimate truth, and you’re arguing over really stupid things. Get over it.

And yet, even with all of the brokenness of the church overall, I’m always hopeful about what Jesus called The Kingdom of God, which is the work that God’s Spirit does all the time -- and the transformation that can happen when the Spirit is allowed to breathe. God’s persistence and hopefulness amaze me and tell me to continue to believe in things I thought weren’t possible. And it’s important to make the distinction that the Kingdom of God is much, much bigger than the Christian Church. God is in all of creation, all of that mysterious stuff out there we don’t even know the first thing about or understand, working in all of human history. God isn’t restricted by our denominations or definitions. God is the “other” that we’re longing for -- and that God is very real and very present, regardless of how we small we’ve attempted to make God. So the work I do, and what I hope I’m doing in this book, is looking forward, past religious experience or denominational doctrine. Those boxes are too small to put God in.

I can’t begin to fathom anything for sure about what God is. What I am convinced of is that there is Someone who is larger than everyday human experience, Someone who wants to know me, Someone who is already present with me. I think that’s what the real heart of being a follower of Christ has always been about. So that’s what I wish for you. I hope that your life will be made more meaningful because you are curious, listening, feeling; I believe that what you’ll find is God’s love. It takes effort and openness to let love happen in us. We’re not great at it. But love is persistent, and doesn’t give up easily. That’s why this book is about wrestling.

So may God’s love go with you on your journey. Wait -- that’s not right. May you find that God’s love has always and will always be there, right where you are at this moment, and may you become a person who knows he or she is God’s beloved.

Rick Diamond