Karl Barth in his Church Dogmatics I, II, IV expresses (the complicated) and beautiful idea that we can only know God through Christ. (If you have a very long weekend and want to plunge into some incredibly dense but rewarding work: have fun!) Christ is our way in to the divine relationship of the trinity and the ability to participate in the creation of the kingdom come on this earth. Christ allows us to not only know God on a personal level but truly on an intellectual level...Christ allows us to comprehend a piece of the incomprehensible majesty of God.
In Jesus we see God in human form. In the great divine mystery we also pay tribute and worship Yhwh and the holy spirit as one monotheistic being. But Jesus' male identified gender is not the only way to view God.
God in an orthodox sense has been called "father" but God is truly gender-less. In circles fired up about the attributes and names of God, controversies reign on what to and not to call God. As someone who grew up only calling God "Father", the ability to call God also mother was earth shattering. I still love the importance of the meaning behind God as Father and pray frequently in this way but seeing God as a mother has brought in an entirely new way of observing my understanding and relationship to God.
As humans made in God's image it is so important to see God as a spectrum of not only gender but race, class, sexuality...etc. God is not blonde, brown, long hair, short hair, straight or gay, rich or poor...but Yhwh can be!
The first time we get the name of God is in Exodus. God says to Moses, "I am" (which translates to Yhwh*). "I am" is this perfect embodiment of all our imaginations. Not only does it encompass everything but acknowledges the inability to express the nature and image of God. Before Christ came no one could look on the face of God or they would be killed. Our human selves cannot contain or comprehend the "I am".
And yet...we are given so many names, faces, and genders of God. We are given the opportunity to hold with open hands, our idea of who God is. No image is more right or wrong then the other...we need them all.
We can think of colonized countries that were told that God looked like a white man. They need God in their image. The queer community needs to see God as beyond heteronormative standards. Men and Women need to know a God who can be both mother and father. The elderly and young need to see God with energy and wisdom. The poor and rich need God as both popper and king. We need images of God as diverse as the images around us.
God doesn't have to look like people even. I see God in the power of the ocean, the beauty of a sunrise, the wind whistling through trees. I hear God in children's laughter and bird songs. I feel God in the cold in the first snow and the rays of the sun on my back. God is manifest in nature just as much as Yhwh is in each other.
We can talk about the Holy Spirit in the same way. She glides around us, deep inside all of us. God in our presence everywhere as "I am".
Let us take the time to challenge our ideas of who God is? What is your "I am" and why? Could you see God in a new way? Could you see God like they see God? Let's try it out.
*I keep the vowels out in honor of my Jewish brother and sisters.
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