Thought for the Day

One so often hears people say, "I just can't handle it," when they reject a biblical image of God as Father, as Mother, as Lord or Judge; God as lover, as angry or jealous, God on a cross. I find this choice of words revealing, however, real the pain they reflect: if we seek a God we can "handle," that will be exactly what we get. A god we can manipulate, suspiciously like ourselves, the wideness of whose mercy we've cut down to size.
--Kathleen Norris