What is Your Image of God?

It was one of those moments. I was having dinner with my friends Martin and Vanessa when Vanessa unexpectedly turned to me and asked, “So, what is your image of God?” I wasn't sure what to say. The Bible is filled with various images of God. In the Hebrew Scriptures God walks through the Garden of Eden, appears to Moses in a Burning Bush, speaks to Elijah in a still small voice.

Jesus is God and an image of God. So is the Holy Spirit, who appears as flame, wind, and a dove. Like the Bible, we all have multiple images of God that we carry around, images that help us to relate to God in different ways at different times. When Vanessa asked her question, I had to pause. I closed my eyes there in the restaurant and looked within. It only took a few seconds, though it felt much longer. I opened my eyes, looked up and said, “Silence. My image of God is silence.” The answer surprised Vanessa—and it really surprised me. It was one of those moments where the answer you give, what you say, actually surprises you, and gives you a new insight about what you really think or believe. “My image of God is silence.” I had never given that answer before. I had never even thought it to myself. I had never included it among my images of God. But it was true and right. I explained the best I could. For me, my deepest experience of prayer - and my preferred way to pray - is silent prayer, prayer without words. In the silence, I try to open my heart to God, just as God’s heart is always open to me. It is a wordless communication. I can just offer up all my thoughts, feelings, concerns, and hopes to God without naming, enumerating, formulating, or editing. For me, it can be a prayer experience of great freedom. Our images of God have a powerful influence in our lives—whether we consider ourselves religious, spiritual, or nothing at all. But much of the time we don't give it much thought. So, what is your image of God? How does it shape your life, your faith?