In
the 13th century, there was a marvelous giant of a man, who
was for Germany much of what Patrick was for Ireland. His name
was Meister Eckhart. Meister Eckhart was a great preacher and
teacher, a fascinating individual, but the reason he was so
gifted was that he had an enormous inner spiritual life. He
was really a mystic. Meister Eckhart went so far with changing
the concept of God for his people that the church began to
try him as a heretic. He died right before he was to be condemned
as heretical.
Here's
one of Meister Eckhart's famous statements: "The eye with
which you see God is the same eye with which God sees you." Now,
let me say that again in a couple of different ways. If you
tend to see God, let's say, as a policeman, the only way you
can feel God coming into your world is as a policeman. Or if
you see God, for example, as a Santa Claus, whatever that might
be, the only way you can receive God's presence into your life
is as a Santa Claus figure. How you and
I perceive God is the way we understand God's presence in our lives.
It
behooves you and me to constantly try to take that lens with
which we see God and make it more of a wide-angle lens rather
than a telephoto lens. We want to expand it as much as we can
so that we might receive from God more than we have ever received
from God before in our lives. The more we can do this, the
more we're blessed by the enormity of the presence of God's
love and compassion and acceptance of me and of you.
Copyright ©2000
by The Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Matthews
--from "What
is Your Concept of God?" by the Rev. Dr. Daniel Matthews
Read "What
is Your Concept of God?" in its entirety.