Perhaps, yes, God is a loving parent,
a brave and patient shepherd,
or a sovereign on a throne.
But also this: God is fire.
Having no shape, no stable form,
but only movement.
Being in no particular place,
but many at once.
Not existing above things, separate,
but only in the transformation of things,
the destroying-and-creating process
of elements interacting.
Lightning: not static, unchanging, immortal,
but only in the moment of its occurring,
in the movement of a charge through the world.
God is an energy, a transforming force,
a refining mystery, an event, a movement.
Too close, you are consumed;
too distant and you freeze.
Our images are of the light given off,
but not the actual changes occurring.
Looking, you see only what was a moment ago.
The Holy Spirit is the fire of the sun
converted by plants into the sugar
that fuels your body, the spark that ignites you.
God is ignition.
Be a struck match.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Listen to the audio recording:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40 — 2.3MB)