beyond expansive
What are the words, stories, things you've been taught that keep you from experiencing an expansive God? What's one idea you want to explore or give up to take a step foward?
John 14: 6
Jesus said to [Thomas], “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
It’s so easy to hear Jesus’ words here as a barrier.
Like he’s a turnstile operator, saying “ticketed passengers only”.
Or standing in front of the Sky Daddy with a spear saying, “you have to get past me first”.
But the rule I have for myself when interpreting Scripture is: “If God ends up looking like an asshole, I’m probably not reading this right,” and I try again.
For this, I think it’s helpful to think of Jesus less like an operator and more like an operation. He’s not the bouncer whose palms need to be greased, he’s the way: the road the night-club is situated on. He’s not the gatekeeper checking tickets, he’s the gate.
Which means, his words aren’t a threat requiring capitulation to a religion, they’re a statement of fact: God and Jesus are a Unity, and connection with one affords you connection with the other.
Today, pray to the road your feet walk on, and call it Jesus. Sometime today, take a moment and give thanks for the many and varied ways God is expressed around you.
—Kate Davoli