The Incomparable

Isaiah 46:5 So to whom will you compare me, the Incomparable? Can you picture me without reducing me?

Here is the central paradox and difficultly about God: any way we come up with to try to describe God, whether simile, metaphor, allegory or image is inadequate to the task, falls far short of describing who/what God actually is. This is why Muslims and some Christians (and possibly some Jews, if memory serves) don't allow any pictures of God (for Muslims, it's any image of any creature, so their mosques are beautifully decorated with abstract art) in their houses of worship. Humans want to know, want to have some understanding of God, but the danger is that as soon as one aspect is described -- say, rock or fortress -- it's easy to get caught up in the image and forget that it's just a hint of God, one idea, one aspect of the Unfathomable Mystery. That is idolatry. Hinduism is often seen to be a polytheistic religion, but according to Huston Smith, in his wonderful series of talks with Bill Moyers, the various "gods" of the Hindu pantheon represent all the various aspects of the Divine Mystery, and so are not really separate gods at all. By having a multiplicity of gods, it reminds them that God is no one thing, but all things.

But how do we deal with this as Christians? Does it mean we must jettison all these ideas, the beautiful images given to us in the scriptures? I don't believe so. These images can be important sources of understanding about God and how we are to relate to him. What is important is to remember that they are only images, not the whole thing. What we are called into is engaging directly with the mystery through not knowing. Isaiah also tells us that I am to God as the pot is to the potter. How can the pot understand the potter? The pot is without understanding, without consciousness, without life. How can it understand the living being that creates it? So, what are the capabilities that God possesses that are as far above me as my consciousness, my mind and my life are beyond that of a pile of clay? This is the challenge. This is also the recognition of futility, in that my understanding can never even approach encompassing the whole of what God is. It is enough to bow down and honor the Presence that is the source of life.

Prayer: Dear God, You have endowed me with understanding and the desire to know. Help me accept my limitations with grace, and understand when to abandon intellectual striving and rest gratefully in Your Presence. Amen.