Note: On Saturdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” (John 16:25-27, NRSVCE)
We all know the dynamics. Mom is the parent most likely to say no, so you convince Dad first that your curfew should be later, that you really need that new bike, that you’re old enough to have your ears pierced. At the very least, he helps you make your case. At the very best, he agrees to navigate the request without you even having to participate. Difficult conversation avoided.
A friend missed your birthday, and you’re really sad and let’s be honest, a bit angry, about it. You tell Friend #2, who offers to say something to Friend #1 for you. You demur for a bit, but you’re relieved. Difficult conversation avoided.
Jesus has told us all about the Almighty’s love for us. But we still wonder. Jesus, we get, to a degree, at least the fully human aspect. He laughed, He wept, He ate, He slept. But the Almighty? We may still have the view we embraced in childhood of a thunderous old man in the clouds. The concept of the Almighty as Light, Joy, and Love… that can be harder for us. (Let’s not even get into the mystery of the Holy Trinity right now.)
However, Jesus urges us to believe, not only that He came from God, but that God loves us. Jesus’s mission was to reunite us with God, to demonstrate just how much we are loved, to show us God desires not to thunder at us from the clouds but to hold us so close that we can shrug aside the world’s hurts.
And when we accept that love, no conversation with God is difficult.
