“God, the Father”

Posted by Webmaster on December 20, 2008 under Webmaster Blog |

I’m trying to remember the grace that my first father-in-law used to say before every meal. It went something like this:

We thank you, Father, for this food
And pray you’ll bless it to our good;
Help us live your name to praise
In all we do through all our days. Amen

That’s not exact, but it’s close.

Perhaps it was “Father, bless this food for our use and use to thy service. Amen.”

Anyhow, one day a long time ago, our daughter said, “Why don’t we thank our Mother? She’s the one that made this lunch.” And there began a discussion, which probably went on in many households. And gets to the root of why it can be problematic to think of God as our “Father.”

The term “Our Father in Heaven” has caused me great angst. And so I’ve been working with it as a metaphor for many years, trying to find the perfect phrase that works for me. “Father in Heaven” refers to and/or conjures up ideas of the Divine, the Divine Infinite, the Divine Creator, Mother Earth and all her wonders, Gaia, the Immortal Invisible, Divine Father-and-Mother. How does that hymn put it?

Immortal, invisible, God only wise.
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

[Walter C. Smith, 1876]

Parental terms help us to speak about our relationship with the Divine. Terms such as “creator” distance us from the divine presence. That was the point that Emilie Smith made in her sermon on Sunday, May 25, 2008, when she was the Celebrant at St. Paul’s. It was Trinity Sunday, the day of the year that celebrates the three-in-one Godhead – all about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Or as I first learned the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

As I age, I become clearer about my position on topics and at the same time, I become more accepting of others’ views. Or at least I hope I do.

For years, I didn’t want to speak of “God,” because the term didn’t fit my concept of divinity. Now I see the word “God” as a metaphor for so much more. For me, it is also synonymous with this idea:

“Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine”

from Ephesians 3:20,21.

These days, I’m thinking of God as “the Divine Intelligence Permeating Everything.”

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