TreeBeard and God

What does God look like to you? Is he some old man up in the sky? Is he ready to zap you with a lightning bolt if you screw up? Is he just some supremely benevolent being that wants nothing more than for you to be happy?

What if God was more like TreeBeard (the ent from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)? This is what Donald Miller describes God as in chapter 3. To Miller, God has oak trees for feet and a quiet voice that sounds like the whisper of the wind through a forest. What he's really trying to say is that God is so totally other that we cannot even begin to imagine what God is like. This otherness deserves our fear. Yes, terror would be the correct form of fear in this case.

If we look at Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, we see a lion who is described as terrible and untame, yet good. There is a sense of fear (but not dread) that one should have when thinking about God. Because of God's otherness, we have a certain amount of fear for the One who created the universe. However, because of His goodness, we do not dread Him. When we misrepresent God, we are doing Him a huge disservice. We show the world a bad picture of who God really is. He is more than a system of beliefs to make you feel better. He's a living and active Being. When we truly find God, we will find the value we have; the value for which we look to other people. Miller says it like this, "It seems like, if you really knew the God who understands the physics of our existence, you would operate a little more cautiously, a little more compassionately, a little less like you are the center of the universe." When you find God's love, you will find the value of yourself and truly love others enough to die for them.

In chapter 4, Miller makes some a huge assertion. Basically, he says that systematic theology is totally null outside the relationship context with God. You may present the ideas of God, but they make no sense outside of the emotional connection with God. He says that if figures like Paul, John, and Moses were to look at our systematic theology books, they would probably say, "Well, it's technically true; it just isn't meaningful." Truth is living and complex. You can't break it down into a simple format. It must be discovered instead of presented, sought out instead of handed on a silver platter. One might provide opportunity for truth to be found, but should never just give it up. It is too precious a commodity for that. Am I saying that we shouldn't tell people the Good News? To quote Paul, by no means! We should present the truth with no expectation of response. It is totally up to a person to seek it out. Only then will the truth become meaningful to the person. We should approach the Bible in a less narcissistic way, looking for Christ in every verse rather than ourselves as Kathleen Norris describes of the study habits of Benedictine Monks in The Cloister Walk.