Twenty-ninth of Year A
October 2011
Any of you who are lucky enough to have a good personal assistant, secretary or housekeeper are possessed of a treasure of great price. The relationship is not one of boss and servant but one where there is mutual respect, consideration and confidence.
The relationship is personal and intimate but totally aware and observant of, all necessary boundaries and proprieties.
I like to think of my relationship with my God as something like the above.
A relationship which is comfortable and trusting.
Fear and anxiety has no place in this relationship. We give each other space and don’t expect perfection at all times. Both of us do things which are incomprehensible to the other but we ignore or tolerate them with good grace.
My God is my Personal God ( I nearly said personal assistant) and we are dedicated to each others needs insofar as we find this possible.
Both of us question, or are unhappy with, things the other does or allows, but because we both know that basically our hearts are in the right place we do not make a big issue of it or get all upset.
My God is always there, always present for me, and I try to be the same for My God, but my success in this matter is patchy but largely persistent. We do not bore each other with long periods of mutual contemplation or pointless chatter, being content with touching base briefly from time to time.
For me, my relationship with My God it totally bound up with my relationship with other people. Being available to others, being helpful to others, insofar as I am able, is for me inseparable from my dealings with My God.
After many years of struggle and doubts I have been gifted with, what St. Paul calls, ‘the freedom of the children of God’ and I will allow no human being, be they Prime minister, Pope or plebeian, to deprive me if this gift from my God.
While being very interested in other peoples relationships with God and fascinated with other peoples understanding of God I need no person to tell me what is right or what is wrong. I am quite comfortable with deciding for myself ( in the sight of My God) what my moral stance is or should be on any concrete issue and abiding by it, while always trying to be open to the stance of others.
This is my present personal relationship with my God. I hope that as time goes on it will grow and of necessity change. I give it to you not necessarily as something to be followed but rather on the off chance that it may be in some way helpful to you and inspire you to try and define what your own relationship with Your God is at this time.
Should you find that your present relationship with your God is like an ill-fitting pair of shoes - uncomfortable, cramped and painful or is stained by fear, anxiety and uncertainty, then you know that it is not the relationship that your God wants with you.