God Has a Heart of Many Colors

Images of God seem to come easily for me.  I can both seriously and playfully seek and experience God in just about anything.  I enjoy the bible imagery of God and the parables of Jesus and the images and metaphors he uses to capture the nature of God. 

I have always loved engaging with children in ways and practices that help them seek the mystery that is God.  If there is one thing we all know for sure; children can be very literal.  Metaphors can be very hard for kids to make sense of.  And I love a good metaphor!  ‘God is like a….’ is an infinite unending sentence but can be very confusing for children in their mind.   At the same time, it is children, when they are totally free to form their own images of God, that come up with the best and most honest images.  My daughter Madison, when she was very young, once said that God has a heart of many colors.  Indeed! 

Language such as ‘God is in' or ‘I see God when’…allows us to engage with the characteristics of God.  God in the world around us, in the relationships we have, and in the ways in which we share God together.   We each personally get to define and create images of God that work uniquely for each of us.  

Every Friday of quarantine, the RBCC Youth Group and I have been participating in a group text that I call our Friday 3x3 (three-by-three).  Friday, 3 o'clock, 3 questions, in 3 minutes
We've shared some good laughs with these questions.  Such as: 
     The zombie apocalypse is coming, what 3 people are on your team? 
     What Disney animated character are you? 
      Name your favorite book and it's title in only emojis.  
      Best and Worst church potluck foods?
      What one thing could Jesus multiply for you? 
Some days, the questions are more introspective.  Such as: 
      What are you not? 
      On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your energy today? 
      If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing, what would it be?  
This week one of the questions I included was...
“Which emoji best represents an Image of God for you?”  
The emoji's I received back were varied and awesome...several hearts, crashing waves, the Milky Way, sunset and sunrise, a partial eclipse, a party hat, a peace sign, open hands, the earth, wind blowing,
a candle and a wizard.  

Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress once said “People see God every day, they just don’t recognize him."   Seeking the face of God can be easy, when we acknowledge the God dwells within each of us, between us, and all around us; in forms as varied as we are and as limitlessness as we can imagine.  It can also can be hard to seek out God's presence when we are feeling low, lost, lonely, hopeless, scared or marginalized.   

All ages can create your own Friday (or daily) 3x3 Spiritual Practice.  Take time at 3 o'clock on Friday or everyday, for 3 minutes to think about 3 times or ways that you saw or experienced God that day.  No need to be formal about it.  Just take a moment.  The more we can play seek and find with God, the better we will be at recognizing God in the little everyday moments.  

Elizabeth Gilbert (the author of  the book Eat, Pray, Love) wrote, “God dwells within me, as me”. 
Ultimately, perhaps you’ll be reminded daily that you too are one of those images for God.  

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