Sometimes I’m afraid I’ve tried to domesticate God.
I’ve tried so hard to believe, to wrap my mind around his impossible being, that I’ve taken away parts of who he is. I’ve turned the magnificent Aslan into a tiny house cat.
I’ve taken a powerful, mighty Creator and reduced him to so little. I think a part of me would prefer a safe, loving, quiet father who stays silent. Someone who takes care of me when I need it, but stays out of the way when I want to do things on my own.
“He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.” - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
I don’t even think of God as a tame lion anymore. I think of him as that house cat, safe and predictable.
But God isn’t safe.
“Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
God is a father who loves us, protects us, calms us, and cares for us. But he is so much more than that. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He isn’t a quiet house cat purring in your lap or standing silently in the snow outside your home. He is the mighty lion, Aslan, and he isn’t predictable. He isn’t safe. He isn’t comprehensible.
To believe in God, to believe in Jesus Christ, is to accept the impossible. To accept things the finite, mortal mind may never truly understand. How can I fully understand the Annunciation, the Transfiguration? I barely even understand what those words mean, let alone how they actually took place.
As I loosen my grip on the things I think I know about God, I’m trying to understand that the probable impossible is real. I’m starting to rethink long-held notions, and return to the ideas I had as a child. The idea that God is a wondrous, infinite, awesome being. And that His existence is seen as impossible by many. Logic isn’t how one gets to know God. There is no formula to being a Christian, despite what some churches say. Sometimes, I think all we need to do is open our eyes…
“Will the others see you too?” asked Lucy.
“Certainly not at first,” said Aslan. “Later on, it depends.”
“But they won’t believe me!” said Lucy.
“It doesn’t matter.”
- Prince Caspian
**I’m slowly working my way through Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle. Pretty much this entire post was inspired by a few pages of the book. And this won’t be the last. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend you do.**
I LOVE that book! It is amazing.
“Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
That part always sticks with me. He isn’t safe, but he is good. It’s hard for me actually understand what that means. It’s even harder to apply to my life, but it feels very important.
One of my favorite quotes in Walking on Water is “I didn’t understand it, but I knew what it was about.” I think that totally applies here!
You’re certainly not the only one. A tame housecat is a much more comfortable critter than a wild lion. I think almost everyone tames down God into someone they can cuddle with…even if you still picture Him as that lion. Because you just can’t really comprehend the lion, and you want answers and understanding so badly.
Hmm. I can’t figure out the words for what I mean. I think Americans (and Western Europeans) have lost a lot of the knowledge of what Wild really means. We’re so sheltered and removed from the untamed wilderness, from truly wild and vicious beasts. People die in National Parks every year because they forget that these are still wild places and not Disneyland–there’s no water fountain in the desert, no costumed guide at every corner of a confusing forest trail. And the animals, they aren’t Disney lions–like that bear guy who was killed by Grizzlies some years back. Wild animals are Wild. They’re not evil, but they are…Other. In some way incomprehensible. Like God.
Because that happens, too. I think of God as the lion but I picture that majestic, beautiful animal in a zoo or a Disney movie or a photograph, and I forget about the beastly power, the completely incomprehensible and Other reasons He has for the things He does. How can I expect to understand why He allows suffering, or would condemn “good” people to hell, or says such and such actions are wrong? I can’t even really be properly scared of a lion. Too much The Lion King as a child. They’re my favorite animal.
And you can’t apologize for a lion not being a housecat. You can’t apologize for God not being human. I’m as guilty as the next person of doing it, but you can’t use human reasoning to explain God. And you can’t apologize that He can’t be explained, or that He does things differently than you’d do them. Because you can’t apologize for a lion doing what a lion does, because lions are not housecats and God is not human.
Am I making any sense at all? It’s a topic I wrestle with. Good old Lewis and L’Engle always bring it up. You get a hint of that wild God in the Time Quartet, too, I think.
Makes perfect sense, Katie. It is such a tough thing to explain, but I think we all understand it somehow…