We’ve Made God Too Small

The Helix Nebula in infrared *

Imagine with me for a moment that the Universe called out to you. Would you follow it? And what I mean by the Universe is all that is out there: the billions of stars, the planets, the super novas, the galaxies, everything that is within them and all that you could possibly imagine, as far as the almost infinite, expanding Universe can go. And further yet, the laws that are behind all that exists in the Universe. What if it called out to you in one big unifying voice? Would you tune your ears to listen to it?

What if it called out to you and there was no question in your mind that it, in fact, was the Universe and it was, in fact, speaking specifically and directly to you, calling out to you by name? Would you want to know what it was saying? Now before you get all theologically concerned about whether the Universe itself would actually do such a thing and accuse me of pantheism or animism or whatever kind of “ism” you can come up with, please remember that I am merely asking you to use your imagination here – all with the intention of proving the title of this piece. What if it called you and gave you advice? Would you trust that it knew what was right? If it gave you directives, would you do as it said? Or would you choose to go your own way and say, what does the Universe know compared to me?

And what if the almost infinite, expanding Universe, with all of its billions of stars, and planets, and super novas, and galaxies and all that was in it came down to Earth? And came in the form of a man? And stood on the shores of Galilee? And called out to you, specifically you, and said, “Follow me.” Would you go? And if you are thinking to yourself during this brief exercise in imagination that we’ve had together, “Wow, I’ve never really thought of God or of Jesus as that big before,” then that goes back to my initial point. We’ve made God too small.

The above is from the Prologue to my still-in-progress book Rethinking God: Because God is Bigger, Closer, and More Real Than You Think.  You can read the introductory chapter here.  The prologue shows the actual thought process I went through that then started my entire journey of rethinking God and asking questions like, “Who are you really, God? ,” “What are you?” and “Why are you?” Those questions, along with some of the answers I discovered, challenged my way of thinking more than ever before while simultaneously strengthening my faith.  My life and perspective has never been the same.

Because the book is a work in progress, I value your input.  Thus comments, questions and feedback are more than welcome.

*Photo credit: Screenshot from IMAX® 3D movie Hidden Universe showing the Helix Nebula in infrared.  By ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson (http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1329d/) [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons