David Kuo has been walking with Jesus for more than 20 years, during which time he has served as special assistant to the president in George W. Bush’s White House, policy director for Sen. John Ashcroft, and speechwriter for a gaggle of conservatives (plus a few liberals here and there). He is the author of “Tempting Faith,” a book about God and politics, and is currently the Washington editor for Beliefnet.com. He is in love with his wife Kim and three other females named Laura, Rachel, and Olivia, conveniently also known as his daughters. He is a member of the Association of Professional Bass Fishermen.
J-Walking welcomes your emails. You can contact David Kuo at davidkuo@beliefnetstaff.com
posted August 5, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I’ll probably sound like a wacko here, but so did Jesus in His day.
My answer may also sound simplistic, but the quote comes from Jesus, not me.
The question was, “What draws us to God?”
Jesus’ answer:
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44)
So, the answer is: “God draws us to God.” (“us” being believers, since only they will be raised up on the last day).
Praise be to Him for drawing such unworthy people as us to His great glory!
posted August 5, 2007 at 5:24 pm
David,
Well, I would have preferred that you had responded to my comments in “The Bible Biz”, but what the heck…
The difficulties I see with folks who see God in all things is that:
1) Since there is no single objective definition of ‘God’, they will naturally see ‘their’ God in all things.
2) It is a very short step from seeing (their) God in all things to imposing (their) God’s rules on everyone else.
And if the questions of the day were only about such ultimately personal issues as how cool are anteaters and ice cream cones, I wouldn’t even be commenting on your “God – (as you understand God) – centered” view of the world.
But they aren’t. The people you have worked for seek to impose (their view of) God’s will on American Public Policy ranging from intimately personal decisions (contraception use, medically assisted suicide) to what is allowed to be taught as objective science based reality (Creation Science vs Natural Selection; Big Bang vs Young Earth) to the ‘merely’ symbolic (‘One Nation Under God’, ‘In God We Trust’).
So when I sound a bit cynical about your paeans to God (as you understand God) as found in ice cream (as you understand ice cream), please know that it really isn’t about the ice cream.
But you probably already knew that.
posted August 5, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Thank you for this post, which resonated with me. I see/know God as equally everywhere present, running in and through all things. When we are able to see and feel the presence of God as much in ice cream, anteaters and other people as we are in a building designated as a “church”, then of course we will feel closer to God as we come to recognize him more and more. It’s like when people talk of the “holy land,” I’ve always had a knee-jerk reaction of “what??” because I would think either all land or holy, or none of it is.
posted August 5, 2007 at 11:28 pm
I see God in the stupid actions and beliefs that so many humans think is so educated and enlightened and progressive.
We are not “evolving” into better kinds of people.
We seem exactly like Cain. Only now we kill our brothers inside the womb.
posted August 7, 2007 at 4:06 am
If God is God, where is God not?
Whether “i” see God or not speaks of my state, not God’s.
And here is the difficulty: Each of us has a locality from which we create images of God, and the degree to which we place faith in those images speaks of our egoic need to define and know what is quite frankly unknowable and certainly not definite.
Would that people of faith learned doubt from Thomas, humility from St. John of the Cross and Brother Lawrence, passionate desire from Rumi, love of God as God from Rabia, and theology from Meister Eckhart.
Rabia: I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God.