11. If God were perfectly happy to have you believe what you wanted to believe about him, what would you want to believe? What is your grandest vision of the God you could love with all your heart?
12. If a child you were caring for ignored your warnings and foolishly ran, fell, and skinned his knees, would you be mad at him? Would his carelessness irritate you? Inconvenience you? Think about it and pay careful attention to your feelings about it. Your response is indicative of your most pervasive thought about God. Ask yourself, “What does God think of me when I fall?”
(My answers to these questions are on the comments page.)
Ashleigh (age 6) said: “Hugs, kisses, and playing. Make popcorn with me”
Peter (age 5) said: “Kid god–he lets us do whatever we want. He would let me play computer and watch TV. Let me go to the movie theater and watch ‘Bedtime Stories.'”
My Answer to Question 11:
I love to believe that God is happy and whole.
I love to believe that God is accessible and inevitable.
I believe he will eventually heal every broken heart.
I have reason to believe that God is actively caring for me,
even when I am not aware of that care and am just “doing what I can.”
I love to believe that he is not exacting, but inviting.
I love to believe we can experience him whether or not we have a teacher.
It is a blessing to have an “assurance of things hoped for‖I do.
My Answer to Questions 12:
I delight in experiences in which I gain perspective on and see the value in the trial-and-error process inherent in LIFE (Living Inside Finite Experience). Reflecting slowly and carefully again on those experiences in which I have felt God respond kindly to my foolish ways (as reflected in Luke 4:18) fills me with grace and patience, for myself and others. At those moments in which others’ choices seem to inconvenience me, I want to Remember Him—that I might have his spirit (and ways) present in me.