Dear Revd Glynn,
Where is God's house?
Love Isabelle.
Dear Isabelle,
We understand a house in two ways. Firstly it is something physical. It is a building with roof and walls, that is situated usually on a piece of land [some people's houses are boats!]. Secondly it is something in which people live. The house becomes a extension of their personalities. My daughter, for example, has a bright pink room - and she is a bright pink girl!
Now, as we've discussed before God isn't a human-shaped being. God doesn't eat, sleep, and go to the toilet like we do. God is a power we can't see. The best way we have of describing God is as 'the power of love'. So God doesn't have an address - like 1 Grace Street, Faraway, Heaven. God doesn't have a physical house to come home to, stretch out the legs, have a warm milo, and read a nice book.
However 'the power of love' does have places it calls home, places that are an extension of love's personality. Sometimes churches are experienced as a home for the power of love. Sometimes a very saintly person is thought to be a 'home' for the power of love.
The Bible talks alot about the human heart. Not the physical one that pumps blood around the body, but the imaginary one where love, kindness, and tolerance is thought to reside. If God, 'the power of love', has any house then it is the human heart that makes room for love, forgiveness, justice, and peace.
Love,
Revd Glynn
About Me
- Glynn Cardy
- I enjoy hearing my children laugh, and seeing my wife smile. I enjoy the aroma of a nice coffee at my favourite cafe. I enjoy the time to talk without the pressure to conclude, and to write without the pressure to conform. These are great privileges and I am blessed. I love the sea, the sand, and the surf. It has sculpted my soul. I like talking to large groups of children because their responses are never predictable or boring. Their capacity for imagination has not been checked. They are therefore capable of seeing the expanse of God without being able to give it a name. When I grow up I want to be a postie. You know, one of those people who ride a bicycle all day and post letters in your letterbox. Only I want to anonymously write the letters too and illustrate them. I want to tell you that you're special, exhort you to be kind and generous, and encourage you to enjoy the great variety of people in this world. If we get those things right everything else tends to follow. I also want to write some letters that pull your leg and make you laugh.