There are many examples of who God is, many titles given, the most common I’ve noticed for people early in a spiritual journey is Father. He is the Heavenly Father that is always taking care of you; always by your side. Good or bad this tells them that God will act like their Father did. So if you have a good relationship with your dad you are good.
But what about those with the dads that just can’t connect no matter how hard they try, the dads who don’t try, the dads who walked away, the ones taken away, or the dads who give all the abusive attention they can muster… What does that example tell them?
It is difficult to accept a paralleled relationship as a good thing when what you have isn’t good. Also, in theory, you will have bonded with your father before you were old enough to really think about why you should… He feeds you, he makes you laugh, catches you before you hit the ground, and comforts you when you are scared or hurt. Great you love him. And as long as dad keeps trying as you grow you still love him. What about the one you have to think about?
And apparently God has all these expectations; these things that you have to do in order to really be saved or whatever. But what kind of father has expectations like that? Surely your dad would protect you from anything just because you are his kid right? So how does that make sense?
Admittedly there are a few holes in the above statements and for those who understand why God is like a Father congrats on finding them. For those who still don’t understand, I propose another example: the friend who is way more committed than you are. (you may have been the more into it friend, the less into it friend, or both at some point, but you know what I mean.) We are gonna call the friend JC (I know, obvious. But whatchagonnado?)
1. The Meet
You are walking around and you spot the new guy, JC. He’s already spotted you, he knows your name, he knows your schedule but he doesn’t follow you around. He just knows who you are. You’re like “Eh, he seems alright… Harmless enough. But I have my own friends and life already. I don’t need the new guy around. He’ll cramp my style” So you just keep his existence in the back of your mind. Just let it sit there.
Until you decide maybe you would like a new friend. Maybe you are upset and just want to be appreciated, maybe you did something wrong and lost a bunch of friends, maybe you simply decided that you want to stop being rude and give the new guy a chance. JC is excited you can tell. He’s… giddy? But he keeps it cool, he doesn’t want to scare you away so he is only as familiar with you as he senses you’ll be alright with.
He’s alright but you aren’t really sure you like him quite that much yet so you figure, you’ll keep him at arms reach for a while. He shows up in your scheduled places a bit more than he used to, but he doesn’t make you talk to him, he doesn’t act weird or stalkery so you let it go. It’s kind of nice that he likes being around and as long as he doesn’t do something scary or super awkward you’re alright with it.
2. The Development
Now that you have acknowledged his existence you feel like it would be rude to ignore him now. And he started that whole being around thing so it would get noticed wouldn’t it. But, I mean really, you don’t want him getting the wrong idea so you can’t be overly friendly. Maybe just a smile, and a hi every once in a while; not everytime though.
When you smile he always smile back right away, he never misses it. He is so aware of you. The times you actually talk to him you would think he’s just reached the highest point of happiness. One day you see him at the coffee shop, alone, and decide to really speak to him. You sit with him and you realize that he’s actually kind of friend worthy. He listened, and comforted, he didn’t cross lines, and he made you laugh. ( Seriously guys, man has a sense of humour.)
Duck billed platypus
Proof.
You and JC keep hanging out. You really enjoy his company. And he isn’t needy, he never asks for anything; he’s totally content with your very presence. This moment is just about you. You talk and he listens.
3. The Tables Turn.
It’s so nice to just be able to have this coffee date with JC and walk out of the shop like everything is the same. No one really knows about these talks with JC because they don’t really affect anything but your afternoon coffee fix right? But one day he’s not quite the same. You notice but you don’t really care… Because this is about you.
He tries to talk and you let him, because you don’t want to be rude, but he’ll be over it tomorrow and then it will all be back to normal so you write a to-do list in your head while he talks. But the next day he’s not over it, he listens to you but he asks for some time too.
No. No, sorry, that’s not what this was. You’re done. You didn’t sign up to solve new guy’s problems. No. You’re gone. Next day he’s sitting at your table. You just walk out; you feel kind of bad but it’s gotta be this way, he didn’t understand that you were just looking for a quick pick me up not a real relationship.
Everyday he is there. He doesn’t beg, he doesn’t bother you at all, he’s just there. And you… Well, you kind of miss him. Not just that you got to vent to someone but him, how nice he is, how thoughtful. You miss him so you sit down. He’s still as excited to see you as he was the first day.
He doesn’t bring up the fact that you walked away. It’s like it didn’t happen; this is the next day and you never abandoned him. You sit down and you talk, and you listen, and you realize that while you were looking for a quick feel good you found a real fix… If you’ll stay, if you’ll get excited, if you’ll just try.
Beautifully varying rhythms of life 