Tuesday 11 January 2011

God, Could You Leave Us Alone?

I was bought Stanley Hauerwas' 'Prayers Plainly Spoken' for my birthday. It's a collection of prayers that he has written for a variety of occasions. I was reading some last night, and came across a prayer entitled 'God, Could You Leave Us Alone?'

What if God did? What if he actually left us be, for a little bit? I'm not talking a long time - maybe just a day or a week. Like, I don't know, perhaps for him to put his feet up for a little bit and not worry about humanity for once. We'll take the keys, promise we won't eat everything in the fridge and usher him onto a train to somewhere warm.

I suppose the humanists would be happy. And those plagued with guilt. And I imagine lots of Christians would be too - if Christians and people plagued with guilt are not of the same kind.

I try and wonder what life would be like without God. I would be out of a job. I wouldn't know... well, a large proportion of the people I know. I wouldn't quite know what to do with myself.

So, almost begrudgingly, I have to come back to the fact that there has to be a God, for me. I don't even really know what he/she/they/it is or are, but my life is nonsense without the idea of the Christian God.

What about yours?

2 comments:

Tim Goodall. said...

Surely your life is nonsense without the reality of the Christian God, not just the idea?

For there are many ideas that have absolutely no impact on a persons actions. In fact, I would suggest that the church is in the state it is in today because people have decided that the idea of God, and not the reality of God, is what they want. And so they go ahead with their lives having no discernible change other than their private belief in the idea of God - which is in fact an idol.

Instead, you who are impacted to change the way your are living (even though that sanctification is slow and mysterious and a work of the Holy Spirit) because of the reality of God, who is far above any idea of God any of us could ever have...

David said...

As ever Tim, you're right.

However, I wasn't trying to make a liberal point, I was just using the wrong word.

Although, you're right, the idea of God is much easier to stomach than the reality.